新型禽流感H7N9 已至两人死亡

　　Two people in China have died and another is critically ill from a strain of bird flu that has never been passed to humans before, according to China's health authorities.

　　中国卫生部门表示，中国有两人因感染一种新型禽流感病毒死亡，还有一人病情严重。以前从未有人类感染过这种禽流感病毒。

　　The deaths of two men, one 87 and one 27 years old, in Shanghai have raised the spectre of a new epidemic 10 years after the Sars virus caused panic in Asia.

　　十年前，非典(Sars)病毒在亚洲引起恐慌。如今，上海两名男子的死亡令人们担心一场新的流行病即将爆发。

　　The two men contracted the H7N9 avian influenza virus in late February and died in early March, suffering from acute pneumonia and breathing difficulties, according to an announcement from China's national health and family planning commission, reported by state media yesterday.

　　中国官方媒体昨日报道称，中国国家卫生和计划生育委员会宣布，两名男子在2月底感染H7N9禽流感，随后出现重症肺炎和呼吸困难，3月初死亡。

　　The commission was able to identify the infections, and that of a woman in Anhui province near Shanghai who fell ill in early March and remains in a critical condition, as H7N9 on Friday after extensive testing that ruled out other strains of bird flu.

　　该委员会经过大量实验室筛查，排除了其他类型禽流感病毒，并得以在上周五确认，上述两名男子以及安徽省一名女子(3月初发病，目前病情仍然严重)感染的是H7N9禽流感病毒。

　　So far, none of the 88 people who came into contact with the three known carriers have shown any symptoms of the disease, according to state media, suggesting it is not easily transmitted among humans.

　　中国官方媒体称，三名已知携带者接触过的88人均未呈现发病症状——这说明这种病毒在人类间的传染性不强。

　　There are no known vaccines for the H7N9 virus, which has previously only been found in bird populations and the health commission said it did not know how the three people contracted the disease.

　　目前尚无针对H7N9禽流感病毒的疫苗。这种病毒以往只在禽类中发现过，卫生和计划生育委员会表示，三人感染此病毒的原因尚不清楚。

　　None of the three have the same surname and all were infected at different times, suggesting they are not related to each other and probably contracted the disease separately.

　　上述三人不同姓，感染时间也各不相同，这说明他们没有亲属关系、具体感染来源可能也各不相同。

　　The decision to publicly report the unusual infections contrasts with the situation 10 years ago, when China initially went to great lengths to cover up the true extent of the Sars epidemic that eventually killed nearly 800 people.

　　中国当局决定公开报告此次异常感染情况，此举与10年前形成鲜明对比。当年，中国当局一开始曾花费很大力气来掩盖非典的真实情况。那场疫情最终导致近800人死亡。