is like something out of a horror movie--extremely painful and terrifying. First, you get a fever;

猶如恐怖電影一般極度痛苦且令人驚駭，你會先發燒

then uncontrollable diarrhea; then you begin hemorrhaging blood; and while all that’s

接著是失控的腹瀉，然後會開始出血，而當所有症狀

hitting you, you lose touch with reality and become delirious.

侵襲你時，你將無法分辨現實並精神錯亂

Finally, within days, you are dead.

最後，幾天之內就會死亡

West Africa is currently in the midst of by far the worst case of the disease since it

西非目前處於歷來最嚴重的疫情風暴之中 -- 自從

was first discovered in Africa back in 1976. This year’s outbreak has been traced to

1976年首次在非洲發現伊波拉開始。這次的爆發要追溯到

a two year old boy who died on December 6th, 2013 in a village in Guinea. He probably got

幾內亞小村莊一個於2013年12月6日死亡的兩歲男童，他大概

the virus by eating contaminated food that had been drooled or defecated on by a bat,

是吃了遭蝙蝠唾液或糞便污染的食物而感染病毒

or - as is common in this part of the world - had eaten some bat for dinner. Bats, researchers

或是 - 在這裡十分稀鬆平常地 - 他吃了蝙蝠當晚餐，而研究指出

believe, are the carriers of the disease. As if the two year old’s death wasn’t

蝙蝠是此疾病的媒介；彷彿2歲孩童的死還不夠

tragic enough, a week after it killed him, it killed his mother, his 3-year-old sister,

悲慘一般，一週後病毒又帶走了他的媽媽、他3歲的姊姊

and then his grandmother.

以及他的祖母

Now, it’s customary in some African villages to prepare a body for burial through the extremely

某些非洲部落的習俗會在葬禮前對大體進行徹底的

sanitary cleansing ritual that involves evacuating the body all food and excreta, often using

衛生清潔儀式，包括清除體內所有食物和排泄物，且通常是

just bare hands. Since the disease is spread by bodily fluids getting into the eyes, nose

赤手空拳來處理。由於此病是體液經由眼、鼻

or mouth, it’s no surprise that two people who travelled to the grandmother’s funeral

或口散布，所以就不意外之後兩個曾參加祖母葬禮的人

caught Ebola and brought it home to their villages. After escaping ground zero, the

感染伊波拉並將其帶回村落了。在脫離了病源地之後

highly contagious, undetected virus was off to the races.

高傳染力、未被察覺的病毒開始快速蔓延

By the end of March, Ebola had reached Liberia, and in June, the first case was reported in

截至三月底，伊波拉已散佈至賴比瑞亞，六月時第一個通報病例在

Monrovia, Liberia’s capital city. That’s when outbreaks like this really start to spread,

賴比瑞亞首都蒙羅維亞出現，此時大流行真正開始爆發

when the infected people make their way to population centers during the incubation phase,

是由於被感染的人在病毒潛伏期前往人口密集區域

before their symptoms begin. A group of people from Sierra Leone who had travelled to an

-- 在病徵顯現之前。一群塞拉利昂人在參加了一個

Ebola victim’s funeral brought the disease back across the border, and in late July,

伊波拉受害者葬禮後將疾病帶過國界，而在七月下旬

the virus had hit Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown.

病毒入侵塞拉利昂首都 - 弗里敦

Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone are three of the 17 nations that form the Economic Community

幾內亞、賴比瑞亞以及塞拉利昂是17個西非經濟共同體中的

of West African States, whose combined territory is roughly half the land area of the United

其中三國，他們的領土約和美國陸上領土一半相當

States, but with a population roughly the same - at 340,000,000 - it’s about twice

但人口卻幾乎相同 (約3億4千萬)，約是美國

as dense as America. And since the disease is easily passed from person to person, and

人口密度的兩倍，由於此病容易在人與人間傳染

there are lots of people here, it’s crucial to get outbreaks like this under control as

加上此處人口稠密，盡快阻止這種疫情的爆發就非常重要

quickly as possible, especially since a staggering 47% - or 2,984 - of the just over 6,400 people

尤其是在約6400人中造成駭人的47% (2984人)

who have been sickened by this strain of Ebola have died.

罹患此種伊波拉而死亡的浩劫之後

So understandably, this is terrifying to neighboring countries, who have responded by shutting

因此可以理解，周圍國家被嚇壞並都以關閉

down their borders. Still, Nigeria - the largest country in Africa by population and economic

邊境作為回應，然而非洲的人口與經貿輸出大國 － 奈及利亞

output - couldn’t keep the disease beyond its borders when an infected Liberian-American

依舊無法將疾病阻擋在國境之外 － 奈裔美國人

named Patrick Sawyer flew into Nigeria’s largest city and died shortly thereafter.

派翠克‧索耶就在坐飛機到奈國最大城市不久後死亡

A Nigerian doctor named Stella Ameyo Adadevoh stopped Sawyer from leaving the hospital,

奈國醫生史黛拉‧阿美猶‧亞達黛佛不讓索耶離開醫院

stopping the spread of Ebola to the 21,000,000 people living in Lagos. Sadly, Dr. Adadevoh

以防止他把伊波拉散布給拉各斯的2千1百萬居民，很不幸，亞達黛佛醫生

contracted Ebola and died, but she left this world a hero by helping to successfully limit

感染伊波拉去世了，但她英雄般的行徑成功控制

the outbreak to just 21 cases and 8 deaths in her country. No new cases have been reported

奈國的疫情在僅8死和21例感染，且沒有任何新病例

in Nigeria in weeks.

在接下來數週出現於奈國

Liberia’s experience, however, has been the exact opposite. The disease is out of

然而賴比瑞亞的情況恰好相反，疫情在那完全失控

control there. Cases doubled in the three weeks between August 31st and September 22.

病例在 8/31 至 9/22 的三週之間倍增

As a response, Liberia’s Harvard-educated president - Nobel Peace Prize Winner Ellen

而作為回應，畢業於哈佛且獲得諾貝爾和平獎的賴國總統

Johnson-Sirleaf (the first female head of state in the history of Africa) - had no choice

艾倫‧強森‧瑟利夫 (非洲史上第一位女性領袖) 別無選擇

but to order a lockdown of a highly-infected slum in the capital. This didn’t last long

只能封鎖首都中疫情失控的貧民窟，封鎖沒有持續很久

though as an angry crowd attacked an Ebola center and freed the infected.

憤怒的群眾攻擊一個伊波拉中心並釋放病患

The second hardest-hit country, Sierra Leone, has resorted to an unprecedented, three-day,

疫情第二嚴重的塞拉利昂對600萬居民採取了一個為期三日、前所未有的

nationwide lockdown of its 6 million residents in an effort to halt the disease.

全國性封鎖以控制疫情

But these countries are fighting an uphill battle. Many parts of West Africa lack even

但這些國家陷入了苦戰，許多西非地區甚至缺乏最基本的

proper sanitation or drinking water. Too many people are poorly educated, scared, and mistrustful.

衛生以及飲水，且太多人教育程度低落、懼怕並缺乏信心

To add insult to injury, aid workers keep getting attacked for spreading information

更糟糕的是，援助團隊不斷遭受攻擊，只因他們宣導

about Ebola or trying to collect the bodies of the disease’s victims. And in September,

關於伊波拉的資訊，以及試圖集中死者的遺體。九月時

an entire team of eight aid workers was murdered by villagers in Guinea.

一個8人援助團隊甚至全員在幾內亞被村民殺害

When American health care workers in Liberia contracted the disease and had to be flown

當美國醫療人員在賴比瑞亞因染病必須搭乘飛機

to the United States for life-saving treatment, the rest of the world was shaken by the possibility

回美國進行救治時，全世界才驚覺

of Ebola spreading outside of Africa’s borders. It was the first time an Ebola-infected person

伊波拉可能脫離非洲，這是第一次有伊波拉病患

had stepped foot on American soil.

踏上美國的國土

But it wasn’t the first time someone on western soil had been infected. In 1976, the

然而這不是西方世界第一次有人被感染，1976年時

year of the first documented Ebola outbreak, a British scientist named Geoffrey Platt,

有文獻記載以來最早伊波拉的爆發，是一位英國科學家傑夫瑞‧普拉特"

researching the disease in a lab in England, accidentally stabbed himself with a syringe

在實驗室研究此病時意外以注射器刺了自己

containing the virus. As the unmistakable symptoms of Ebola set in over the next few

且其中含有病毒，接下來幾天開始出現明顯的症狀之後

days, the British government acted swiftly. Platt was transported in a special ambulance

英國政府迅速做出反應，普拉特由特殊的救護車轉移

under police escort to a London hospital where he was the lone patient. He was kept in an

並在警察戒護下成為倫敦醫院唯一的病人，他被安置在一間

isolation chamber and all hospital staff working on his case were quarantined, as was his family

隔離病房，並隔離所有照顧他的醫護人員、家人

and any lab workers and friends he had come in contact with. The extreme action worked,

實驗室同事、朋友和所有他接觸過的人。非常手段奏效

Platt recovered without infecting anyone else.

普拉特痊癒、且沒有傳染給任何人

But the current incarnation of Ebola is threatening to overwhelm the much more economically-challenged

然而現今伊波拉的現身卻嚴重威脅經濟弱勢的

West African region. Answering the call to action, the United States military is taking

西非區域；而作為回應，美軍主導了

the lead in overseeing and coordinating the response to the epidemic. In addition to US

監督以及協調抗疫作戰；此外，美國的

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff who have been there for weeks,

疾病控制預防中心曾到疫區數週的人員指出

President Obama has ordered 3,000 American troops to West Africa to build 17, 100-bed

歐巴馬下令3000人的部隊至西非設立17個有100張床位的

treatment centers and a site capable of training 500 health-care workers a week. The US response

醫療中心及一個每週可訓練500個照護人員的基地，美國這項行動

is worth an estimated $750 million over the next 6 months. The Bill and Melinda Gates

將在接下來6個月投注約7億5千萬美金，比爾蓋茲基金會

Foundation has alone donated $60 million, and the foundation of Paul Allen, Gates’

捐了6千萬美金；保羅‧艾倫基金會 － 比爾蓋茲

co-founder of Microsoft, has given nearly $12 million.

在微軟的共同創辦人 － 也捐了近1千2百萬美金

The American-led international response may come just in time, as infection levels were

美國主導的國際援助來得正是時候 － 正值傳染規模

spiking exponentially in the middle of September. If no help had come, some experts were fearing

在九月中呈指數暴增之時。若沒有這些奧援，當時一些專家擔心

the disease could have overwhelmed the region and spread until it exhausted its host population,

疾病可能蔓延全區、直到全數人口染病為止

killing hundreds of thousands or even millions of Africans, all the time increasing the odds

並造成成千、甚至高達數百萬的非洲人死亡，隨著時間的流逝

that it could make its way off the continent. The World Health Organization now optimistically

病毒離開非洲大陸的機會逐漸增加，而今世界衛生組織樂觀預估

hopes to control Ebola by mid-2015, limiting the death-toll to around 10,000.

2015年年中就能控制伊波拉，將死亡人數控制在約1萬人

Thanks for watching this installment of The Daily Conversation. If you’d like us to

謝謝收看本集的"每日座談"，若你希望我們

tackle a particular subject in this mini-documentary format, leave your idea in a comment below.

以這種迷你紀錄片探討特定主題，請在下面留下你的想法

Until next time, I’m Bryce Plank.

下次見，我是布萊斯‧普朗克