Mers: The new coronavirus explained
2
July 2015
The World Health
Organization (WHO) says the new coronavirus(冠狀病毒) appears to be passing between people in close contact. It is
the biggest outbreak(爆發) of Mers,
which is similar to the Sars virus, outside the Middle East. What is this new
virus and should we be concerned?
What is this new virus?
It is a
type of coronavirus. Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses which includes
the common cold and severe(嚴重的) acute(激烈的) respiratory syndrome
(Sars).The first Mers fatality(死亡) was
recorded in June 2012 in Saudi Arabia. According to the World Health
Organization (WHO), at least 449 people have now died from the virus. Mers is a
virus that is transmitted from animals to humans. The WHO says that camels are
likely to be a source of Mers infection but the exact route of transmission(傳送) is not yet known. There
have been cases where the virus has spread between two people but close contact
seems to be needed. Cases have been confirmed(確認) in 25 countries in the Middle East, Europe and Asia. The
majority of the cases have been reported in Saudi Arabia. In May 2015, two new
countries joined the list: China and South Korea.
What does it do?
Coronaviruses
cause respiratory infections in humans and animals. Symptoms are a fever, cough
and breathing difficulties. It causes pneumonia(肺炎) and, sometimes, kidney failure. Most of the people who have been
infected so far have been older men, often with other medical conditions. Experts
say they are not sure why we are seeing this pattern and if it will change over
time. It is also unclear how often people might develop a milder(溫和) form of the disease.
How is it spread?
It is not
known for certain. It is possible the virus is spread in droplets(飛沫) when an infected
person coughs or sneezes. The fact that close contacts appear to have been
infected suggests that the virus does have a limited ability to pass from
person to person. Up to now, most human cases have been the result of
human-to-human transmission in a healthcare setting, the WHO says. How that
infection occurs is still not fully understood.
How dangerous is it?
Experts
believe the virus is not very contagious(傳染). If it
were, we would have seen more cases. Coronaviruses are fairly fragile(脆弱). Outside of the body
they can only survive for a day and are easily destroyed by common detergents(清潔劑) and cleaning agents(媒介) Public health experts
in the UK have stressed that the risk to the general population remains very
low. The greatest global concern, however, is about the potential for this new
virus to spread far and wide. So far, person-to-person transmission has
remained limited to some small clusters(群). There is
no evidence yet that the virus has the capacity(能力) to become pandemic(全國流行的). Doctors do not yet
know what the best treatment is, but people with severe symptoms will need
intensive medical care to help them breath. There is no vaccine(疫苗). As of June 2015, the
WHO said about 36% of reported patients with Mers had died. In South Korea
though, that death rate is lower at about 18%.
What can I do to
protect myself?
It's not
known exactly how people catch this virus. However, some general measures may help
prevent its spread - avoid close contact, when possible, with anyone who shows
symptoms of illness (coughing and sneezing) and maintain good hand hygiene(衛生保健).
Where did it come from?
Experts do
not yet know where the virus originated. It may have been the result of a new mutation(變化) of an existing virus.
Or it may be an infection that has been circulating in animals and has now made
the jump to humans.
Is there any travel advice?
At the
moment the WHO says there is no reason to impose any travel restrictions. Travel
advice will be kept under review if additional cases occur or when the patterns
of transmission become clearer.
What about related viruses?
Coronaviruses
are common viruses that most people get some time in their life. Their name
comes from the crown-like spikes(長釘) that cover
their surface. Human coronaviruses were first identified in the mid-1960s. Other
variants(變種) infect many different
animals, producing symptoms similar to those in humans. Most coronaviruses
usually infect only one animal species or, at most, a small number of closely
related species. Sars was different: being able to infect people and animals,
including monkeys, cats, dogs and rodents(囓齒動物). A novel coronavirus does not seem to get passed from person to
person easily, while the SARS virus did.
What impact did Sars have?
Sars is
thought to have infected more than 8,000 people, mainly in China and South-East
Asia, in an outbreak that started in early 2003. The illness spread to more
than two dozen countries in North America, South America, Europe, and Asia
before the global outbreak was contained. Experts established that Sars could
spread by close person-to-person contact. According to the WHO, 774 people died
from the infection. Since 2004, there have not been any known cases of Sars
reported anywhere in the world.
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-19699677
Structure of the lead:
WHO-not given
WHEN-2015
WHAT-Mers
WHY-new virus spread
WHERE-Aisa
HOW-not given
Keywords:
respiratory(呼吸)
syndrome(併發症)
coronavirus(冠狀病毒)
outbreak(爆發)
severe(嚴重的)
acute(激烈的)
fatality(死亡)
transmission(傳送)
confirmed(確認)
pneumonia(肺炎)
milder(溫和)
droplets(飛沫)
contagious(傳染)
fragile(脆弱).
detergents(清潔劑)
agents(媒介)
clusters(群)
capacity(能力)
pandemic(全國流行的)
vaccine(疫苗)
hygiene(衛生保健)
mutation(變化)
spikes(長釘)
variants(變種)
rodents(囓齒動物)
