H7N9始末:上海等地叫停活禽交易

SHANGHAI, April 6 – Chinese officials have found traces of a new bird flu virus in more areas in Shanghai and in the nearby city of Hangzhou, news reports said on Saturday, as authorities slaughtered birds to stop the spread of the virus that has killed six people.

上海昨日（4月6日）有報道稱，中國官員已在上海更多地區以及鄰近的杭州市發現一種新型禽流感病毒的蹤跡。目前中國有關部門正在撲殺活禽，以制止這種已導致6人死亡的病毒傳播。

State-run Xinhua news agency said authorities planned to cull birds at two live poultry markets in Shanghai and another in Hangzhou after samples of the H7N9 virus were detected in birds at the three sites.

官方的新華社稱，有關部門計劃撲殺上海兩個活禽批發市場和杭州一個市場的活禽，此前在這三個地方均發現H7N9禽流感病毒。

More than 20,000 birds have been culled at another Shanghai market where traces of the virus were found this week.

在上週發現病毒的另一個上海市場，已有2萬多隻活禽被撲殺。

Officials in Shanghai, China’s financial hub, ordered all live poultry markets in the city closed on Saturday, leaving food stalls empty.

在上海這個中國的金融中心，官方下令從週六起關閉全部五個活禽批發市場，這些市場的攤位均已撤空。

Authorities also banned all poultry trading in Nanjing, another eastern city, although officials said they had not found any trace of the bird flu virus and chicken on the retail market was safe to eat, official media reported.

據官方媒體報道，在另一個華東城市南京，有關部門也已禁止活禽批發交易，儘管官員們稱，他們尚未發現任何禽流感病毒蹤跡，零售市場上的肉雞是安全的。

The new strain of bird flu has infected 16 people in China, all in the east of the country. Six people have died and the outbreak has spread concern overseas and sparked a sell-off in airline shares in Europe and Hong Kong.

這種新的病毒株已在華東地區感染16人，其中6人死亡，疫情引發的擔憂已波及海外，引發航空公司股票在歐洲和香港遭到拋售。

There were no signs of panic in Shanghai, where four of the six deaths have taken place, and people said they were not worried. But the culling, which has been widely publicised, did underline for some how close to home the issue had become.

在6例死亡中佔4例的上海，街頭沒有恐慌跡象，人們表示他們並不擔心。但得到大量報道的撲殺活禽行動，讓一些人驚呼這個問題已逼近自己。

“Now it’s just downstairs,” said Liu Leting, a user of Weibo, China’s version of Twitter which has more than 500 million users. “Suddenly I discover that I’m living in an epidemic zone!”

擁有逾5億用戶的新浪微博(Weibo)的用戶之一Liu Leting表示，現在這件事就發生在樓下。他突然發現自己置身於疫區。

In one city restaurant, a waitress said they planned to stop serving chicken because of the outbreak.

在上海的一家餐廳，女服務員稱，由於疫情爆發，他們計劃停止提供有雞肉的菜。

“After we sell out the chicken in stock, we will not buy new chicken and will stop serving chicken dishes for the time being,” said the waitress, who declined to be identified.

“在我們賣掉所有雞肉庫存後，我們將不會再購買雞肉，並將暫時停止供應雞肉，”這名要求匿名的服務員表示。

While the strain does not appear to be transmitted from human to human, authorities in mainland China and Hong Kong said they were taking extra precautions.

儘管這種病毒株似乎沒有人傳人，但中國內地和香港的有關部門都表示，他們在採取額外的預防措施。

Hong Kong’s government said it is intensifying surveillance of travellers and poultry coming into the city.

香港政府表示，正加強對入境旅客和禽類的監視。

China’s Food and Drug Administration said it had fast-tracked approval for intravenous anti-influenza drug Peramivir, developed by US-listed biotechnology firm BioCryst Pharmaceuticals.

中國國家食品藥品監督管理總局宣佈，已加速審批通過了抗流感新藥帕拉米韋氯化鈉注射液(Peramivir)，這種藥是由美國上市生物技術公司BioCryst Pharmaceuticals研發的。

Peramivir is in medical trials to prove its effectiveness against type-A and type-B influenza, the administration said in a statement. The H7N9 strain belongs to the type-A group.

國家食品藥品監督管理總局在一份聲明中表示，帕拉米韋是一種新型的抗流感病毒藥物，現有臨牀試驗數據證明其對甲型和乙型流感有效。H7N9病毒株屬於甲型流感。

Shanghai authorities have stressed the H7N9 virus remained sensitive to the drug Tamiflu and those who were diagnosed early could be cured. Tamiflu is made by Roche.

上海有關部門強調，H7N9病毒仍對瑞士羅氏公司(Tamiflu)生產的抗病毒藥達菲(Tamiflu)敏感，及時得到診斷的病人是可以治癒的。

China and Hong Kong were badly hit by a 2002-2003 epidemic of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome that started in China and killed about one-tenth of the 8,000 it infected worldwide.

中國內地和香港曾在2002-03年間遭到非典(SARS)的沉重打擊，非典在世界各地感染了8000人，死亡率大約爲十分之一。