Here’s what you need to know about the cruise ship hantavirus outbreak
Here’s what you need to know about the cruise ship hantavirus outbreak
关于游轮汉坦病毒疫情，你需要了解这些信息
MIT Technology Review Explains: Let our writers untangle the complex, messy world of technology to help you understand what’s coming next. You can read more from the series here. Eight passengers aboard a Dutch-flagged cruise ship have contracted a type of hantavirus, a rare virus transmitted by rats. Three of them have died. As the ship prepares to dock in the Canary Islands, plans are being finalized to let the remaining passengers and crew disembark safely. The virus in question appears to have a high fatality rate. Read on for answers to the big questions surrounding the outbreak—and to hear why health experts don’t expect a rerun of the covid-19 pandemic.
《麻省理工科技评论》解读：让我们的作者为您梳理复杂且混乱的科技世界，助您洞察未来趋势。您可以点击此处阅读该系列的更多文章。一艘悬挂荷兰国旗的游轮上，有八名乘客感染了一种由老鼠传播的罕见病毒——汉坦病毒（hantavirus），其中三人已经死亡。随着游轮准备在加那利群岛停靠，相关部门正在敲定计划，以确保其余乘客和船员能够安全下船。该病毒似乎具有很高的致死率。请继续阅读，了解围绕此次疫情的重大疑问，并听听为何卫生专家认为这不会重演新冠疫情。
What is hantavirus? 什么是汉坦病毒？
Hantaviruses are a group of viruses that typically infect rodents but can be transmitted to humans through exposure to the animals or their droppings, urine, or saliva. The viruses don’t seem to cause illness in rodents, but they can make people very unwell. The symptoms can depend on the type of hantavirus a person has been exposed to. Varieties found in the Americas can cause hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome, which affects the lungs and heart and has a fatality rate of up to 50%. That condition made headlines last year when it caused the death of pianist Betsy Arakawa, the wife of actor Gene Hackman.
汉坦病毒是一组通常感染啮齿动物的病毒，但可以通过接触这些动物或其粪便、尿液或唾液传播给人类。这些病毒似乎不会导致啮齿动物患病，但却能让人类病得很重。症状取决于个人所接触的汉坦病毒类型。在美洲发现的变种可引起汉坦病毒心肺综合征，该病影响肺部和心脏，致死率高达 50%。去年，钢琴家贝齐·荒川（Betsy Arakawa，演员吉恩·哈克曼的妻子）因该病去世，引发了媒体关注。
How many cases have there been so far? 目前已有多少病例？
On April 6, a man aboard the MV Hondius developed respiratory symptoms. He became very unwell and died just five days later. His wife, who left the ship at the island of Saint Helena, also developed symptoms. Her health deteriorated during a flight to Johannesburg, South Africa, and she died the following day, on April 26. South Africa’s National Institute of Communicable Diseases tested samples taken from the woman and confirmed that she had hantavirus. A third person aboard the ship, who developed symptoms on April 28, died on May 2. Four other passengers who became ill were evacuated—one to South Africa and three to the Netherlands. An eighth person had disembarked in Saint Helena and reported similar symptoms once he was in Zurich, Switzerland. A team at Geneva University Hospitals confirmed that he had become ill from the Andes virus—a form of hantavirus that can be spread between people.
4 月 6 日，MV Hondius 号游轮上的一名男子出现呼吸道症状。他病情迅速恶化，仅五天后便去世。他的妻子在圣赫勒拿岛下船后也出现了症状。在飞往南非约翰内斯堡的航班上，她的健康状况恶化，并于次日（4 月 26 日）去世。南非国家传染病研究所对该女子的样本进行了检测，证实她感染了汉坦病毒。船上第三名于 4 月 28 日出现症状的乘客于 5 月 2 日死亡。另有四名患病乘客被撤离——一人前往南非，三人前往荷兰。第八名乘客在圣赫勒拿岛下船，抵达瑞士苏黎世后报告了类似症状。日内瓦大学医院的一个团队证实，他感染的是安第斯病毒（Andes virus）——这是一种可以在人与人之间传播的汉坦病毒。
Could this be the start of the next pandemic? 这会是下一场大流行的开端吗？
Health experts don’t believe so. They stress that the situation is nothing like the one the coronavirus that causes covid-19 presented in 2020. For a start, the Andes virus is not a mysterious new virus—scientists already have an understanding of it, and Argentina is sharing diagnostic kits it has already developed. The virus also doesn’t spread in the same way. Officials at the World Health Organization emphasized that the spread of hantavirus requires close contact—the kind a person might have with a partner, household member, or medical caregiver. The cruise ship outbreak represents “a specific confined setting where people are interacting in a prolonged close contact,” Abdirahman Mahamud, the alert and response director for the WHO’s health emergency program, said at a press event on Thursday. “With the experience our member states have, and the actions they have taken, we believe that this will not lead to a subsequent chain of transmission.”
卫生专家认为不会。他们强调，目前的情况与 2020 年导致新冠肺炎的冠状病毒所引发的情况完全不同。首先，安第斯病毒并非一种神秘的新病毒——科学家们已经对其有所了解，阿根廷也正在分享其已开发的诊断试剂盒。此外，该病毒的传播方式也不同。世界卫生组织的官员强调，汉坦病毒的传播需要密切接触——即与伴侣、家庭成员或医护人员之间的那种接触。世卫组织卫生紧急项目警报与响应主任阿卜迪拉赫曼·马哈茂德（Abdirahman Mahamud）在周四的新闻发布会上表示，此次游轮疫情代表了“一个特定且封闭的环境，人们在其中进行长时间的密切接触”。“凭借我们成员国的经验以及他们所采取的行动，我们相信这不会导致后续的传播链。”
What about the rest of the people onboard the ship? 船上其余人员的情况如何？
All the remaining passengers have been asked to stay in their cabins, which the WHO says are being disinfected. Doctors and health professionals from the WHO and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control have boarded the ship and are assessing everyone on board. So far, no one else on board has developed symptoms, Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO acting director for epidemic and pandemic management, said at the press event. That’s “a good sign,” she said, but she added that the Andes virus has a long incubation period (around six weeks). Passengers are being advised to wear a medical mask when they leave their rooms. At the same event, WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was in regular contact with the ship’s captain, who was reporting that “morale had increased significantly” since the ship started its journey to the Canary Islands.
所有其余乘客已被要求留在各自的客舱内，世卫组织称这些客舱正在进行消毒。来自世卫组织和欧洲疾病预防控制中心的医生及卫生专业人员已经登船，并正在对船上所有人进行评估。世卫组织流行病与大流行管理代理主任玛丽亚·范·克尔霍夫（Maria Van Kerkhove）在新闻发布会上表示，到目前为止，船上没有其他人出现症状。她说这是一个“好迹象”，但她补充说，安第斯病毒的潜伏期很长（约六周）。乘客被建议在离开房间时佩戴医用口罩。在同一场活动中，世卫组织总干事谭德塞（Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus）表示，他与船长保持着定期联系，船长报告称，自游轮启程前往加那利群岛以来，“士气已显著提高”。
What do we know about the Andes virus? 我们对安第斯病毒了解多少？
The Andes virus is the only hantavirus that is known to be transmitted between people. That transmission seems to rely on prolonged, intimate contact. There was an Andes virus outbreak in Argentina around eight years ago. Between November 2018 and February 2019, there were 34 confirmed cases of infection, and 11 deaths. That outbreak was triggered when a person with symptoms attended a social gathering, said Tedros. “We are in a similar situation right now,” he said. “A cluster in a confined space with close contact.” The fact that the 2018 outbreak was limited to 34 cases should be somewhat reassuring, he implied. “We believe this will be a limited outbreak if the public health measures are implemented and solidarity is shown across all countries,” he said.
安第斯病毒是目前已知唯一可以在人与人之间传播的汉坦病毒。这种传播似乎依赖于长时间的亲密接触。大约八年前，阿根廷曾爆发过安第斯病毒疫情。2018 年 11 月至 2019 年 2 月期间，共确诊 34 例感染病例，死亡 11 人。谭德塞说，那次疫情是由一名有症状的人参加社交聚会引发的。“我们现在处于类似的情况，”他说，“在一个封闭空间内因密切接触而形成的聚集性病例。”他暗示，2018 年的疫情仅限于 34 例，这应该在一定程度上令人放心。“我们相信，如果落实公共卫生措施，且各国展现出团结一致，这将是一场有限的疫情。”
How is hantavirus treated? 汉坦病毒如何治疗？
Unfortunately, we don’t have any specific antiviral treatments or vaccines for hantavirus. The WHO recommends early intensive care for people who develop symptoms. “This can save lives,” Anaïs Legand, WHO technical lead on viral hemorrhagic fevers, said on Thursday.
遗憾的是，目前还没有针对汉坦病毒的特效抗病毒药物或疫苗。世卫组织建议对出现症状的患者进行早期重症监护。“这可以挽救生命，”世卫组织病毒性出血热技术负责人阿奈斯·勒冈（Anaïs Legand）周四表示。
How did people get infected in the first place? 人们最初是如何感染的？
We don’t yet have an answer to that. But we do know that the couple who died had traveled through Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay on a birdwatching trip before they boarded the ship. That trip included visits to areas where species of rats that carry the Andes virus are known to live. The WHO is working with authorities in Argentina to try to retrace the couple’s movements on that trip.
我们目前还没有答案。但我们确实知道，那对去世的夫妇在登船前曾前往阿根廷、智利和乌拉圭进行观鸟旅行。那次旅行包括访问已知携带安第斯病毒的老鼠物种的栖息地。世卫组织正在与阿根廷当局合作，试图追溯这对夫妇在那次旅行中的行踪。
Has the virus spread beyond the ship? 病毒是否已传播到船外？
We don’t yet know for sure. The WHO is receiving reports of “potential suspect cases,” Van Kerkhove said at the Thursday briefing. Some of them have links to the ship or its passengers. Each “alert” will be followed up by health authorities in the relevant countries.
我们目前还不能确定。范·克尔霍夫在周四的简报会上表示，世卫组织正在收到有关“潜在疑似病例”的报告。其中一些病例与该游轮或其乘客有关。每一项“警报”都将由相关国家的卫生部门进行后续跟进。