10年前，传染性非典型肺炎（ SARS）席卷全球，带走了 750多条生命。而近日科学家们又有了一个令人不安的发现：一种与 SARS病毒极其相似的近亲病毒正流行于蝙蝠间，很可能直接传染给人类。
The findings create new fears about the emergence of diseases like SARS, or severe acute respiratorysyndrome. The virus spread quickly from person to person in 2003 and had a mortality rate of at least 9%. Worries of a severe pandemic led the World Health Organization to issue an emergency travel advisory.
这一发现引起了人们对类似 SARS（严重急性呼吸综合征）的传染病再次爆发的担忧。 2003年， SARS病毒在人际间快速传播，致死率不低于 9%。出于对疫情恶化的担忧，世界卫生组织（ World Health Organization）发布了紧急旅游警告。
While bats have previously been fingered as a host for SARS, it was believed that the virus jumped from there to weasel-like mammals known as civets, where it went through genetic changes before infecting people. Operating on that belief, China cracked down on markets where bats, civets and other wildlife were sold for food.
虽然蝙蝠先前就被指认为 SARS病毒的宿主，但人们曾相信病毒是首先由蝙蝠传染给果子狸这一鼬鼠类哺乳动物、在经历了基因突变之后才最终传给人类的。循着这一思路，中国政府关闭了将蝙蝠、果子狸等野生动物当做肉类出售的食品市场。
The new bat-to-human discovery suggests that the control tactic may have limited effectiveness because a SARS-like virus remains loose in the wild and could potentially spark another outbreak.
但新病毒可经蝙蝠传给人的发现表明，这种防控措施的效果可能有限，因为 SARS类病毒在野外的蔓延得不到控制，可能会引发又一场流行病的爆发。
" It changes the equation for public health", said Peter Daszak, a senior author of the study and president of EcoHealth Alliance, a group involved in conservation and global health. " We can close all the markets in China and still have a pandemic."
生态健康联盟（ EcoHealth Alliance）主席、这项研究报告的撰稿人之一彼得·达萨克（ Peter Daszak）称，这一发现改变了公共卫生的局势，即使关闭中国所有市场，病情仍可能蔓延开来。生态健康联盟致力于病情防护和全球卫生。
The latest findings, published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, may also help scientists grapple with a more immediate worry. About a year ago, a novel SARS-like virus was reported in the Middle East. It has since killed more than 50 people and some preliminary research suggests that it also may have originated in bats.
周三发表在《自然》（ Nature）杂志上的这一最新发现可能加剧科学家们的忧虑。大约一年前，中东地区报告了一种新型的 SARS类病毒，导致超过 50人死亡，一些初步研究显示这一病毒同样源于蝙蝠。
SARS is caused by a germ known as a coronavirus. First discovered in 2003 in southern China, SARS went on to sicken more than 8,000 people in more than two dozen countries in North America, South America, Europe and Asia, before it was contained. No known cases have been reported anywhere since 2004.
SARS产生于冠状病毒（ conronavirus），这种病毒 2003年首次在中国南部被发现，在北美、南美、欧洲和亚洲总共超过 24个国家中感染了 8,000多人之后，疫情才得到控制。 2004年以后再未报告新的病例。
But a key puzzle remained. No one ever found a live SARS virus in bats found in southern China's wildlife markets, making it unclear that those bats were the source. So where did it come from?
但有一个关键的问题悬而未决：没有人在中国南部野生市场中的蝙蝠体内发现活的 SARS病毒，这使得病毒是否来自于蝙蝠成了疑案。那么病毒究竟从何而来？
Dr. Daszak and his colleagues chose to study a horseshoe bat colony in Yunnan province in southwest China-hundreds of miles from the big wildlife-for-food markets of Guangdong province, where SARS was first reported.
达萨克博士和同事们在中国西南部云南省的菊头蝠（ horseshoe bat）栖息地进行研究，这里距离 SARS首次被发现的广东省的大型野生动物市场相距数百英里。
The researchers took hundreds of samples from the horseshoe bats. A genetic analysis revealed at least seven different strains of SARS-like coronaviruses circulating in that single group of animals.
研究人员从菊头蝠群中提取了数百个样本进行基因分析，结果显示，至少有七种不同的 SARS类冠状病毒毒株寄宿于这一蝙蝠群中。
Crucially, the scientists were also able to isolate and culture a live virus that binds to a receptor on a human cell. That suggests that direct bat-to-human infection would likely occur.
科学家随后成功分离并培养出可以与人类细胞受体相结合的活病毒。这意味着病毒有可能直接从蝙蝠传给人类。
This paper indicates that the bat is the origin and that the virus can be directly transmitted to humans, said Charles Calisher, a virologist at Colorado State University, who wasn't involved in the study. It practically rules out the possibility of an intermediate host.
没有参与这次研究的科罗拉多州立大学（ Colorado State University）病毒学家查尔斯·卡利舍( Charles Calisher)说，这篇报告说明病毒源自于蝙蝠并且可以直接感染人类，基本上排除了中间宿主的可能性。
Dr. Daszak described a potential scenario where close contact between bats and humans-such as when the animals are captured for food-could increase the risk of viral transmission. ' They are bringing wildlife in from new areas. They are going to Yunnan where bats are still common.
达萨克博士称，如果蝙蝠与人类近距离接触，例如蝙蝠被捕猎食用，那么病毒传染的几率就会升高。
Dr. Calisher said the finding was important because researchers will now be able to get important clues about the danger these novel SARS-like coronaviruses pose. For example, if a bat carries a high load of the virus, it indicates that the potential for transmission to humans is also high.
卡利舍博士认为这一发现意义重大，因为研究人员现在能够追踪到新型 SARS类冠状病毒所具有的危险性的线索。比如说，如果一只蝙蝠被发现携带有大量此类病毒，则预示着病毒传染给人类的潜在几率也很高。
