3-15 西尼罗河病毒

West Nile Virus

 

West Nile virus(WNV) was first isolated¹ from a febrile¹ adult woman in the West Nile District of Uganda in 1937. The virus became recognized as a cause of severe human meningoencephalitis² in elderly patients during an outbreak in Israel in 1957.

 

WNV has been described in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, west and central Asia, Oceania, and most recently, North America. The first appearance of WNV in North America in 1999, with encephalitis³ reported in humans and horses, and the subsequent spread in the United States may be an important milestone² in the evolving history of this virus. Experts believe WNV is established as a seasonal³ epidemic⁴ in North America that flares⁶ up⁴ in the summer and continues into the fall.

 

WNV affects the central nervous system. The most serious manifestation⁷⁵ of WNV infection is fatal encephalitis. Its symptoms vary. Approximately 80 percent of people who are infected with WNV will not show any symptoms at all. Up to 20 percent of the people who become infected will display mild symptoms, including fever, headache, and body aches, nausea⁸⁶, vomiting⁹, and sometimes swollen¹⁰ lymph glands⁷ or a skin rash on the chest, stomach and back. Symptoms typically last a few days. About one in 150 people infected with WNV will develop severe illness. The severe symptoms can include high fever, headache, neck stiffness, stupor¹²⁸, disorientation⁹, coma¹³¹⁰, tremors¹¹, convulsions¹², muscle weakness, vision loss, numbness¹⁵ and paralysis¹⁶. These symptoms may last several weeks, and neurological¹³ effects may be permanent.

 

Generally, WNV is spread by the bite of an infected mosquito. People typically develop symptoms between 3 and 14 days after they are bitten by the infected mosquito. There is no specific treatment for WNV infection.

 

注释：

1. febrile [5fi:brail] adj. 发热的；发烧的

2. meningoencephalitis [mi5niN^EuEn7sefE5laitis] n. [医]脑膜脑炎

3. encephalitis [en7sefE5laitis] n. [医] 脑炎

4. flare⁵ up（尤指短时间平静后）突然爆发；剧化

5. manifestation [7mAnifes5teiFEn] n. 表现；表现形式；现象

6. nausea [5nC:ziE] n. 恶心

7. lymph gland¹¹ [解] 淋巴结（俗名淋巴腺）

8. stupor [5stju:pE(r)] n. 昏迷，不省人事

9. disorientation [dis7C:riEn5teiFEn] n. 迷向；迷失知觉

10. coma [5kEumE] n. [医] 昏迷

11. tremor¹⁴ [5tremE(r)] n. 震颤；颤抖

12. convulsion [kEn5vQlFEn] n. [常作～s] 惊厥，抽搐

13. neurological [njuErEu5lCdVikEl] adj. 神经病学的

 

西尼罗河病毒

 

　　西尼罗河病毒于1937年在乌干达西尼罗河地区一位发烧的成年妇女身上首次分离出来。此病毒被认为是1957年爆发于以色列的一次老年病人严重脑膜脑炎的病因。

　　西尼罗河病毒在非洲、欧洲、中东、西亚和中亚、大洋洲以及最近在北美都发现过。1999年，西尼罗河病毒在北美第一次出现，致使人和马罹患脑炎，随后在美国蔓延，这可说是该病毒发展史上一次重要的里程碑事件。专家相信，西尼罗河病毒在北美已经演变成一种季节性传染病，夏天发作，延续到秋天。

　　西尼罗河病毒影响中枢神经系统。感染该病毒最严重的表现是致命的脑炎。它的症状因人而异。大约80％的感染者根本没有任何症状，至多20％的感染者表现出轻微的症状，包括发烧、头痛、浑身疼痛、恶心、呕吐，有时出现淋巴腺肿大或胸部、腹部和背部出现皮疹，症状一般持续几天。而大约每150名感染者中会有1人发展成严重疾病。严重的症状包括高烧、头痛、颈部发僵、昏迷、方向知觉丧失、失去知觉、颤栗、抽搐、肌肉无力、失明、麻木和瘫痪。这些症状可能持续几个星期，对神经系统的影响可能是永久性的。

　　一般而言，西尼罗河病毒是由受到感染的蚊子传播的。人通常在被毒蚊叮过3至14天之内发病。目前对西尼罗河病毒感染还没有特定的治疗方法。

 

 

1 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

2 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

3 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。

4 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

5 flare   

v.闪耀，闪烁；n.潮红；突发

参考例句：

• The match gave a flare.火柴发出闪光。
• You need not flare up merely because I mentioned your work.你大可不必因为我提到你的工作就动怒。

6 flares   

n.喇叭裤v.（使）闪耀( flare的第三人称单数 )；（使）（船舷）外倾；（使）鼻孔张大；（使）（衣裙、酒杯等）呈喇叭形展开

参考例句：

• The side of a ship flares from the keel to the deck. 船舷从龙骨向甲板外倾。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He's got a fiery temper and flares up at the slightest provocation. 他是火爆性子，一点就着。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 manifestation   

n.表现形式；表明；现象

参考例句：

• Her smile is a manifestation of joy.她的微笑是她快乐的表现。
• What we call mass is only another manifestation of energy.我们称之为质量的东西只是能量的另一种表现形态。

8 nausea   

n.作呕，恶心；极端的憎恶(或厌恶)

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕期常有恶心的现象。
• He experienced nausea after eating octopus.吃了章鱼后他感到恶心。

9 vomiting   

吐

参考例句：

• Symptoms include diarrhoea and vomiting. 症状有腹泻和呕吐。
• Especially when I feel seasick, I can't stand watching someone else vomiting." 尤其晕船的时候，看不得人家呕。”

10 swollen   

adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀

参考例句：

• Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
• A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。

11 gland   

n.腺体，(机)密封压盖，填料盖

参考例句：

• This is a snake's poison gland.这就是蛇的毒腺。
• Her mother has an underactive adrenal gland.她的母亲肾上腺机能不全。

12 stupor   

v.昏迷；不省人事

参考例句：

• As the whisky took effect, he gradually fell into a drunken stupor.随着威士忌酒力发作，他逐渐醉得不省人事。
• The noise of someone banging at the door roused her from her stupor.梆梆的敲门声把她从昏迷中唤醒了。

13 coma   

n.昏迷，昏迷状态

参考例句：

• The patient rallied from the coma.病人从昏迷中苏醒过来。
• She went into a coma after swallowing a whole bottle of sleeping pills.她吃了一整瓶安眠药后就昏迷过去了。

14 tremor   

n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震

参考例句：

• There was a slight tremor in his voice.他的声音有点颤抖。
• A slight earth tremor was felt in California.加利福尼亚发生了轻微的地震。

15 numbness   

n.无感觉，麻木，惊呆

参考例句：

• She was fighting off the numbness of frostbite. 她在竭力摆脱冻僵的感觉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Sometimes they stay dead, causing' only numbness. 有时，它们没有任何反应，只会造成麻木。 来自时文部分

16 paralysis   

n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症)

参考例句：

• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。
• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。