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【bio-news】A Virus Moves North
A Virus Moves North
迁往欧洲北部的病毒
The sudden emergence of an insect-borne disease of livestock in northern Europe has plunged the agricultural sectors of three countries into crisis. At least 45 farms in the Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium have so far been affected by bluetongue disease, which infects ruminants such as cows, sheep, goats, and deer. Scientists are trying to find out how the disease, which had made inroads into southern Europe over the past 8 years, made the giant leap north, and what its potential for further spread is.
在欧洲北部突然出现的一种由昆虫传播的牲畜疾病使得三个国家的农业部门陷入了危机之中。在荷兰，德国和比利时迄今为止至少有45个农场被感染了蓝舌病（羊、马等的病毒性疾病，类似口蹄疫，最早出现在南非），这种疾病通常感染牛、绵羊、山羊和鹿等反刍动物。科学家正在努力想探明这种疾病是怎样的，过去八年它一直在南欧活动，是什么使它大步跳跃到了北欧及其进一步的传播潜力如何。
The disease was first discovered in sheep on a farm in the Netherlands on 14 August. On 21 August, the European Union announced a series of measures to contain it, including an export ban on ruminants--as well as their semen, ova, and embryos--in a 150-kilometer radius around stricken areas.
今年8月14日这种疾病首次发现在荷兰一家农场中一只绵羊身上。8月21日，欧盟宣布了一系列措施包括患病地点为圆心，半径150公里区域的反刍动物及其精子，卵子和胚胎均不得出口。
The Bluetongue Virus, carried by tiny insects called biting midges, causes severe and sometimes fatal disease--including a blue tongue, caused by bleeding--in sheep and goats; cows are reservoirs but usually don't get sick. The virus occurs in many parts of the world, including sub-Saharan Africa, Turkey, and the Middle-East. But until recently, it was rare in Europe. From 1998 on, however, different subtypes of the virus started spreading into Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and the Balkan countries. Still, its sudden jump north--by some 10 degrees of latitude--is "very surprising," says Bethan Purse of the University of Oxford, who studies bluetongue epidemiology.
蓝舌病毒由一种名为拟蚊蠓的微小昆虫携带，会引起严重甚至有时致死的疾病，包括导致山羊和绵羊出血而产生的蓝色舌头。牛会携带这种病毒但通常不会发病。这种病毒在世界的许多地方爆发过，包括撒哈拉以南的非洲地区，土耳其和中东。但直到最近，这种病毒在欧洲还非常罕见。然而从1998年到现在，这种病毒的不同亚型开始传播至希腊，意大利，西班牙，葡萄牙和巴尔干半岛的一些国家。可是它突然跨越10个维度传播至北欧，这还是令人“非常吃惊”，牛津大学研究蓝舌病毒流行病学的专家Bethan Purse这样说道。
In southern Europe, bluetongue's main vector is a species called Culicoides imicola, which doesn't occur in the newly affected countries. A team led by medical and veterinary entomologist Willem Takken of Wageningen University in the Netherlands is trapping insects around Dutch farms to determine the most likely vector there. So far, the team has found predominantly C. obsoletus--which lab studies have shown to be a potential vector for bluetongue--as well as nine other Culicoides species, Takken says. Studies to determine whether they carry the virus are still underway.
在南欧国家，蓝舌病毒的主要载体是一种名为库蠓的昆虫，这种昆虫在新近发生感染的国家并没有发现。一个由荷兰Wageningen大学医学和兽医昆虫学家Willem Takken领导的研究小组诱捕了一些荷兰农场周围的一些昆虫想鉴定初在这里最有可能的载体是什么。Takken说到目前为止，研究小组已经发现主要是C. obsoletus（不显库蠓）以及其他9种Culicoides（库蠓）类可能具有携带蓝舌病毒的潜力。是否是它们携带了这种病毒，这项研究正在进行当中。
Meanwhile, virologists are trying to determine which of the 24 subtypes of the virus is involved. The fact that several cows in the Netherlands have fallen ill suggests that it may be an unusual one, Takken says.
此外病毒学家正在尝试确定这种病毒的24种亚型，哪一种参与了这次疫情。荷兰农场中的几头牛也病情发作，这一事实暗示这种病毒可能不太一般。Takken说道。
Researchers aren't sure why bluetongue is moving north. In a paper published last year, Purse and colleagues suggested climate change might have triggered its recent spread into southern Europe. Other explanations, such as a more virulent strain or changes in land use, agriculture, or animal health systems, seemed implausible, they said, and the disease had struck primarily in those areas that had heated up the most.
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作者:admin@医学,生命科学 2011-10-14 05:17
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