更新时间:2019-06-10
無口森 • 血疫 第一季:FOUR REASONS SCIENTISTS HAVEN'T YET STOPPED EBOLA
BY RICHARD PRESTON
In the 25 years since my book The Hot Zone traced the emergency of extremely lethal viruses,one of them has proved to be the most destructive:Ebola.At this writing,Ebola has killed hundreds in the Democrartic Republic of the Congo,in the second largest outbreak since the virus was identified in 1976.The largest from 2014 to 2016 in three West African nations resulted in almost 30,000 cases,nearly half of them fatal.Fierce international efforts helped quell Ebola that time,but there are no assurances that the virushas ended its assaults on the human species.Ebola is hard to arrest for many complicated reasons.But scientists keep trying-and what they learn will equip us to face this virus,and possibly worse,in the future.
Why is Ebola so hard to fight?
1.THE VACCINE'S REQUIREMENTS
Ebola vaccine has to be kept cold.But in tropical areas where little refrigeration is available,the vaccine can quickly become useless.And we don't yet have a dried or otherwise nonperishable form of the vaccine.
2.CONSTRAINTS AND COSTS OF NEW DRUGS
There are exprimental,genetically engineered drugs for Ebola,but it's not yet clear if they'll be broadly effective,and affordable enough that they'll be feasible for mass treatment of Ebola victims.
3.THE FAILURE OF A TECHNIQUE THAT STOPPED PAST VIRUSES
In 1966,during a large outbreak of smallpox virus,vaccinators tried a technique called ring vaccination with great succes:They vaccinated people in a ring around the infected person.This trapped the virus inside a wall of immune people and stopped it from spreading. But attempts to use the technique with Ebola have run into problems.Ring vaccination requires a stable government or other authority maintaining civil order.The Ebola areas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are controlled by violent militias that won't let vaccinators do their work.
4.GAPS IN SCIENTISTS' UNDERSTANDING OF HOW EBOLA KILLS
Ebola remains mysterious.It is unbelivebly aggressive in the human body,but scientists still don't understand all the virus's mechanisms,and they aren't sure exactly how Ebola kills a human being.The great military strategist Sun Tze said,"Know the enemy."We're still getting to know Ebola.When we finally do,we'll know the paths to defeat it.
In the 25 years since my book The Hot Zone traced the emergency of extremely lethal viruses,one of them has proved to be the most destructive:Ebola.At this writing,Ebola has killed hundreds in the Democrartic Republic of the Congo,in the second largest outbreak since the virus was identified in 1976.The largest from 2014 to 2016 in three West African nations resulted in almost 30,000 cases,nearly half of them fatal.Fierce international efforts helped quell Ebola that time,but there are no assurances that the virushas ended its assaults on the human species.Ebola is hard to arrest for many complicated reasons.But scientists keep trying-and what they learn will equip us to face this virus,and possibly worse,in the future.
Why is Ebola so hard to fight?
1.THE VACCINE'S REQUIREMENTS
Ebola vaccine has to be kept cold.But in tropical areas where little refrigeration is available,the vaccine can quickly become useless.And we don't yet have a dried or otherwise nonperishable form of the vaccine.
2.CONSTRAINTS AND COSTS OF NEW DRUGS
There are exprimental,genetically engineered drugs for Ebola,but it's not yet clear if they'll be broadly effective,and affordable enough that they'll be feasible for mass treatment of Ebola victims.
3.THE FAILURE OF A TECHNIQUE THAT STOPPED PAST VIRUSES
In 1966,during a large outbreak of smallpox virus,vaccinators tried a technique called ring vaccination with great succes:They vaccinated people in a ring around the infected person.This trapped the virus inside a wall of immune people and stopped it from spreading. But attempts to use the technique with Ebola have run into problems.Ring vaccination requires a stable government or other authority maintaining civil order.The Ebola areas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are controlled by violent militias that won't let vaccinators do their work.
4.GAPS IN SCIENTISTS' UNDERSTANDING OF HOW EBOLA KILLS
Ebola remains mysterious.It is unbelivebly aggressive in the human body,but scientists still don't understand all the virus's mechanisms,and they aren't sure exactly how Ebola kills a human being.The great military strategist Sun Tze said,"Know the enemy."We're still getting to know Ebola.When we finally do,we'll know the paths to defeat it.
血疫 第一季The Hot Zone(2019)
又名：埃博拉浩劫 / 伊波拉浩劫(台) / 热点地区 / 高危地带 / 血疫 : 埃博拉的故事
主演：朱丽安娜· 玛格丽丝 Julianna Margulies/诺亚·艾默里奇 Noah Emmerich/利亚姆·坎宁安 Liam Cunningham/托弗·戈瑞斯 Topher Grace/詹姆斯·达西 James D'Arcy/保罗·詹姆斯 Paul James/尼克·西塞 Nick Searcy/罗伯特·维斯多姆 Robert Wisdom/罗伯特·肖恩·莱纳德 Robert Sean Leonard/马克·凯利 Mark Kelly/兰尼·普拉特 Lenny Platt/安娜·尼奥斯基 Anna Pniowsky/劳伦·科林斯 Lauren Collins/萝丝玛丽·邓斯莫尔 Rosemary Dunsmore/鲍比·莫雷诺 Bobby Moreno/查克·沙曼塔 Chuck Shamata/乔·瓦兹 Joe Vaz/布雷丹·贝塞尔 Brendan Beiser/格蕾丝·古默 Grace Gummer/艾登·格伦 Aiden Glenn/利比·奥斯勒 Libby Osler/丽莎·张 Lisa Truong/克拉克·巴茨科 Clark Backo/博杭·莫科 Bohang Moeko
导演：迈克尔·乌彭达尔 Michael Uppendahl编剧：詹姆士·V·哈特 James V. Hart/杰夫·温塔 Jeff Vintar
