Trump admin “aware” of deaths in explosive diarrhea outbreak, delays reporting

特朗普政府“知晓”爆发性腹泻疫情致死事件，但延迟通报

Two people have died amid the ongoing record-breaking outbreak of explosive diarrhea from the foodborne parasite Cyclospora, Michigan health officials announced Monday. Cyclosporiasis fatalities are extremely rare, and despite the massive size of the outbreak, some experts were still surprised by the deaths. 密歇根州卫生官员周一宣布，在由食源性寄生虫“圆孢子虫”（Cyclospora）引起的、规模破纪录的爆发性腹泻疫情中，已有两人死亡。圆孢子虫病导致的死亡极为罕见，尽管此次疫情规模巨大，但一些专家对死亡事件仍感到惊讶。

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services on Monday said that medical records of both individuals indicated that they had “significant underlying health conditions that may have been impacted by cyclosporiasis and dehydration.” MDHHS noted that both fell ill with the diarrheal infection before Taylor Farms recalled its shredded iceberg lettuce grown in Mexico, which has been linked to thousands of cases in at least nine states. 密歇根州卫生与公众服务部（MDHHS）周一表示，两名死者的医疗记录显示，他们患有“严重的潜在健康疾病，可能受到了圆孢子虫病和脱水的影响”。MDHHS指出，两人在泰勒农场（Taylor Farms）召回其在墨西哥种植的碎生菜之前就已经感染了腹泻，该批次生菜已与至少九个州的数千例病例相关联。

Cyclospora is a unicellular parasite that spreads in human feces and is often transmitted via contaminated fresh produce, such as lettuces and other fruits and vegetables that have uneven surfaces for the parasite to grip. Past culprits have included fresh herbs, raspberries, green onions, and snow peas. 圆孢子虫是一种单细胞寄生虫，通过人类粪便传播，通常经由受污染的农产品传播，例如生菜以及其他表面凹凸不平、易于寄生虫附着的果蔬。过去的传染源还包括新鲜香草、覆盆子、青葱和荷兰豆。

While news of the deaths made widespread headlines Monday, federal health agencies under the Trump administration were mostly silent. The Food and Drug Administration—which is conducting traceback investigations to identify foods contaminated with the parasite—has not updated its outbreak investigation page since July 24, nearly two weeks ago, as of publication time. 尽管死亡消息周一占据了各大媒体头条，但特朗普政府旗下的联邦卫生机构大多保持沉默。截至本文发布时，负责进行溯源调查以确定受污染食品的美国食品药品监督管理局（FDA），自7月24日以来（近两周前）一直未更新其疫情调查页面。

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, meanwhile, added a banner notice on its outbreak update webpage saying that the agency was “aware” of the two cases. But its reporting data was not updated to include the two deaths as of this publication. 与此同时，美国疾病控制与预防中心（CDC）在其疫情更新网页上添加了一条横幅通知，称该机构“知晓”这两起病例。但截至本文发布，其报告数据尚未更新以包含这两起死亡事件。

Sluggish data

迟缓的数据

Ars Technica contacted the US Department of Health and Human Services about the un-updated numbers to ask if the CDC was still awaiting confirmatory data on the two deaths. In a response, HHS Press Secretary Emily Hilliard confirmed the information provided by Michigan’s health department on the two deaths and said that “FDA and CDC plan to update overall illness numbers, hospitalizations, and deaths this week.” Ars Technica就未更新的数据联系了美国卫生与公众服务部（HHS），询问CDC是否仍在等待关于这两起死亡事件的确认数据。HHS新闻秘书艾米丽·希利亚德（Emily Hilliard）在回复中证实了密歇根州卫生部门提供的关于两名死者的信息，并表示“FDA和CDC计划在本周更新整体患病人数、住院人数和死亡人数。”

Outside experts have speculated that the agencies’ sluggish responses to the outbreak may stem from harsh budget and staffing cuts, along with widespread upheaval at the agencies. Anti-vaccine Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has generally tried to shift focus away from infectious diseases and outbreak prevention—aligning with his longstanding efforts to disparage vaccines and downplay their need—and instead redirect attention to wellness campaigns, such as improving diet and exercise. 外部专家推测，这些机构对疫情的迟缓反应可能源于严厉的预算和人员削减，以及机构内部的广泛动荡。反疫苗立场的卫生部长小罗伯特·F·肯尼迪（Robert F. Kennedy Jr.）总体上试图将重心从传染病和疫情预防上转移开——这与他长期以来诋毁疫苗和淡化疫苗必要性的努力相一致——转而将注意力引向健康运动，例如改善饮食和锻炼。

Two weeks ago, Kennedy confidentially told reporters that the Cyclospora outbreak—linked to lettuce and other unidentified fresh produce—was “under control.” Last week, he announced his own cooking show on YouTube and released the first episode in which he helped prepare a meal that included a fresh salad. 两周前，肯尼迪曾私下告诉记者，与生菜及其他未明确农产品相关的圆孢子虫疫情已“得到控制”。上周，他在YouTube上宣布了自己的烹饪节目，并发布了第一集，在节目中他协助准备了一顿包含新鲜沙拉的餐点。

With the CDC and FDA not keeping pace with the outbreak, there is no up-to-date official nationwide tally. Outside experts have been tracking counts from individual states, and local health departments have tallied case numbers of between 17,000 and nearly 23,000. These counts include both confirmed and probable cases. At least 45 states have reported cases. Michigan alone has reported over 11,000 cases, with 193 hospitalizations. Over the past several years, annual counts of cyclosporiasis cases have been between 2,000 and 5,000. 由于CDC和FDA未能跟上疫情发展的步伐，目前没有最新的全国官方统计数据。外部专家一直在追踪各州的统计数字，地方卫生部门统计的病例数在1.7万至近2.3万之间。这些统计包括确诊病例和疑似病例。至少有45个州报告了病例。仅密歇根州就报告了超过1.1万例病例，其中193人住院。在过去几年中，圆孢子虫病的年病例数通常在2000至5000例之间。

While officials in Michigan are hopeful that the outbreak has peaked in their hard-hit state, others are still seeing jumps. Missouri, for instance, reported on Sunday that its case count nearly doubled, from 593 on July 26 to 1,095 on August 2. Missouri is not one of the nine states that the CDC and FDA have tied to the multi-state outbreak linked to Taylor Farms lettuce, which was sold at Taco Bell restaurants, among other locations. However, Taylor Farms’ recall indicates that Missouri is among the 27 states where its lettuce was distributed. 虽然密歇根州的官员希望该州严重的疫情已经达到顶峰，但其他地区仍出现激增。例如，密苏里州周日报告称，其病例数几乎翻了一番，从7月26日的593例增加到8月2日的1095例。密苏里州并不在CDC和FDA认定的与泰勒农场生菜相关的多州疫情涉及的九个州之列，该生菜曾在塔可钟（Taco Bell）餐厅及其他地点销售。然而，泰勒农场的召回信息显示，密苏里州属于其生菜分销的27个州之一。