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The deadly H5N1 bird flu virus is spreading more aggressively than ever before since its arrival in South America in 2022.
致命的H5N1禽流感病毒自2022年抵达南美洲以来，传播速度比以往任何时候都要快。
It is killing wild birds and marine mammals on the continent.
它正在杀死非洲大陆上的野生鸟类和海洋哺乳动物。
Reuters recently spoke to eight experts in bird flu science.
路透社最近采访了八位禽流感科学专家。
All said the current spread raises the risk of the virus becoming a bigger threat to humans.
所有人都表示，目前的传播增加了该病毒对人类构成更大威胁的风险。
The more immediate concern is that the disease, which once affected mostly birdlife, appears to be spreading between mammals.
更直接的担忧是，这种曾经主要影响鸟类的疾病，似乎正在哺乳动物之间传播。
The disease has already killed several dolphins in Chile and Peru.
这种疾病已经导致智利和秘鲁的一些海豚死亡。
It has also killed about 50,000 seals and sea lions along the coasts and at least half a million birds across South America.
它还杀死了沿海地区约5万只海豹和海狮，以及南美洲至少50万只鸟类。
Scientists have not yet tested infections in living animals to confirm mammal-to-mammal passage of the virus.
科学家尚未对活体动物感染的病毒进行测试，以证实该病毒在哺乳动物之间传播。
But they believe it is very likely.
但他们认为可能性很高。
"It's almost certainly happened," said Richard Webby.
理查德·韦比说：“这几乎肯定发生了。”
He is a virologist at St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.
他是田纳西州孟菲斯市圣裘德儿童研究医院的病毒学家。
"It's pretty hard to explain some of these large infections and die off without having mammal-to-mammal spread."
“若该病毒没有在哺乳动物之间传播，就很难解释其中一些大规模感染并死亡的原因。”
The same version of the virus has appeared in many bird species.
同一版本的病毒已经在许多鸟类身上出现。
Among them are migrating species, scientists told Reuters.
科学家告诉路透社，其中包括迁徙物种。
As climate change continues, animals are forced to move into new territories, often mixing with animals -- and viruses -- that are new to them.
随着气候变化的持续，动物被迫迁徙到新的地区，经常与陌生的动物和病毒混合在一起。
"It's a matter of time before you will detect the first South American strain in North America," said Alonzo Alfaro-Nunez, a viral ecologist at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.
丹麦哥本哈根大学的病毒生态学家阿朗佐·阿尔法罗-努涅斯说：“在北美发现第一个南美病毒株只是时间问题。”
The growing concern led the intergovernmental Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to gather health experts and officials for a meeting this week in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
这种日益增长的担忧导致政府间组织泛美卫生组织召集卫生专家和官员于本周在巴西里约热内卢召开会议。
The group plans to launch the world's first regional program to supervise bird flu spread.
该组织计划启动世界上第一个监督禽流感病毒传播的区域性项目。
The program will run observation and response efforts, a PAHO official told Reuters.
泛美卫生组织的一名官员告诉路透社，该项目将进行观察和应对工作。
Since the virus was first detected in Colombia in October 2022, there have been two known cases in humans on the continent.
自2022年10月在哥伦比亚首次发现该病毒以来，该大陆已有两例已知的人类病例。
One was in Ecuador. The other was in Chile.
其中一例是在厄瓜多尔。另一例是在智利。
Birds passed the virus in each case.
每一例都是由禽类传播的病毒感染的。
The patients survived.
这两个病人都活了下来。
But often, H5N1 kills.
但通常情况下，H5N1病毒会导致死亡。
About 60 percent of human cases of the virus end in death.
大约60%感染该病毒的人类病例以死亡告终。
The World Health Organization is unlikely to raise the H5N1 risk level for humans from the current "low" right now.
目前，世界卫生组织不太可能将人类感染H5N1病毒的风险水平从目前的“低”水平提高。
The experts would require evidence of human-to-human transmission or signs of viral changes that would target humans, experts said.
专家表示，专家们需要人传人的证据，或者有迹象表明病毒发生了针对人类的变化。
Several drugmakers have said they are developing bird flu vaccines for humans.
一些制药商表示，他们正在为人类研发禽流感疫苗。
"We're seeing (the virus) do... little evolutionary steps that are on the long-term moving towards a potential human infection," said Ralph Vanstreels.
拉尔夫·范斯特尔斯说：“我们发现……从长远来看，禽流感病毒正在逐步进化为潜在的人类感染病”。
He is a researcher at the University of California, Davis.
他是加利福尼亚大学戴维斯分校的研究员。
He is studying South American variants of H5N1.
他正在研究H5N1在南美的变异毒株。
With health officials and experts meeting in Rio this week, Latin American countries will be pressured to increase disease surveillance in the wild.
随着卫生官员和专家本周在里约热内卢举行会议，拉美国家将会面临增加野外疾病监测的压力。
The region's data is lacking and limited resources have left scientists struggling to understand how the disease is spreading in the wild.
该地区的数据匮乏，资源有限，科学家难以理解这种疾病是如何在野外传播的。
Scientists expect the number of cases is probably much higher than reported.
科学家预计，病例数量可能会比报道的要高得多。
Some cases are not getting laboratory testing.
有些病例没有得到实验室检测。
Bolivia, for example, did not register a case in the wild last year.
例如，玻利维亚去年有一例野生动物感染禽流感的病例没有登记。
But the disease has been reported in surrounding countries, said Manuel Jose Sanchez Vazquez, a disease expert for PAHO's animal health center.
但泛美卫生组织动物健康中心的疾病专家曼纽尔·何塞·桑切斯·巴斯克斯说，周边国家已经报告了这种疾病。
Overseeing the disease response can also be complex, Sanchez noted.
桑切斯指出，监督疾病反应也可能是复杂的。
Public health officials deal with threats to humans.
公共卫生官员处理对人类造成的威胁。
Agricultural experts and veterinarians deal with health threats to farm animals, including birds, cows and pigs.
农业专家和兽医处理对农场动物造成的健康威胁，包括鸟类、奶牛和猪。
But for wild animal health, care and supervision is provided mostly by environmental officials.
但对于野生动物的健康，照顾和监督主要是由环境官员提供的。
The new regional commission is expected to be announced on Thursday.
新的地区委员会预计将于周四宣布成立。
The group would aim to set methods for observing, treating and reporting cases among government agencies.
该组织的目标是制定适用于政府机构观察、治疗和报告病例的方法。
It could also help in sharing laboratory resources.
它还有助于共享实验室资源。
"We are worried and we are vigilant," Sanchez said. "The more adaptation of the virus to mammals, the more likely it is that transmission to humans could happen."
桑切斯说：“我们很担心，也很警惕。这种病毒对哺乳动物的适应性越强，传染给人类的可能性就越大。”
I'm Caty Weaver.
凯蒂·韦弗为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
