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A handful of monkeypox cases have been reported or are suspected in Britain, Portugal, Spain, and the U.S.
连日来，英国、葡萄牙、西班牙和美国已经报告了部分猴痘确诊病例或疑似病例。
The outbreaks are raising alarm because the disease mostly occurs in west and central Africa, and only very occasionally spreads elsewhere.
此次猴痘疫情暴发敲响了警钟，因为该疾病当前主要出现在西非和中非，在其他地方只是少量传播。
Here's what scientists know so far.
以下是科学家目前所了解的情况。
Monkeypox is a virus that causes fever and a distinctive bumpy rash. There are two main strains.
猴痘是一种会引起发烧和明显丘疹的病毒。主要有两种毒株。
The Congo strain is more severe, with up to 10% mortality, the West African strain has a fatality rate of 1%.
刚果毒株更为严重，死亡率高达10%，而西非毒株的致死率为1%。
Jimmy Whitworth is a professor of international public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
吉米·惠特沃斯是伦敦卫生与热带医学院的国际公共卫生教授。
It usually starts with fever and headache. People feel pretty miserable and tired. They can get swollen glands.
该疾病最初症状通常是发烧和头痛。人们会感到非常疼痛和疲惫。他们的腺体会肿大。
And then this typical rash develops, which is sort of pustular in form. And that's usually what's infectious.
然后出现典型皮疹，形成脓疱。这时通常就具有传染性了。
The virus was first found in monkeys in 1958, hence the name.
1958年，这种病毒首次在猴子身上发现，因此得名。
But rodents are now seen as the main source of transmission.
但现在啮齿类动物被视为主要的传播源。
The virus spreads through close contact, both in spillovers from animal hosts and, less commonly, between humans.
这种病毒是通过密切接触传播的，既可以从动物宿主传播，也可以在人与人之间传播，只不过后者比较罕见。
Transmission this time is puzzling experts.
这次的扩散让专家们感到困惑。
That's because a number of the cases in the UK have no known connection with each other. Only the first case reported on May 6 had recently travelled to Nigeria.
这是因为英国的一些病例彼此之间没有已知的联系。只有5月6日报告的第一个病例最近去过尼日利亚。
The UK and U.S. health officials also highlighted that the recent cases were predominantly among men who self-identified as gay or bisexual.
英国和美国的卫生官员还强调，最近的病例主要发生在自称为是同性恋或双性恋的男性中。
One likely scenario behind the jump in cases is increased travel after COVID restrictions were lifted.
病例激增背后的一个可能原因是，新冠疫情旅行限制取消后旅行人数的增加。
Monkeypox puts virologists on the alert because it is in the smallpox family, although it causes less serious illness.
猴痘使得病毒学家警惕了起来，因为它属于天花病毒家族，尽管它引起的疾病不那么严重。
Smallpox was eradicated by vaccination in 1980, and the shot has been phased out. But it also protects against monkeypox.
天花在1980年通过接种疫苗被消灭，而该疫苗也已逐步消失。但它对预防猴痘也有作用。
Some epidemiologists say the winding down of vaccination campaigns has led to a jump in monkeypox cases.
一些流行病学家称，疫苗接种的逐步停止，导致了猴痘病例激增。
So this is quite alarming from a public health point of view and something that we really need to get a grip of and control as as quickly as we can.
所以从公共卫生的角度来看，情况是非常令人担忧的，我们确实需要尽快控制和阻止蔓延。
There's no need to panic here. This is not going to spread and get into the general population and cause an epidemic like the corona virus has.
现在还没有必要恐慌。这种病毒不会像新冠那样传播、感染普通人群并引发大流行。
