首箇中國大陸以外的H7N9病例確診

A man in Taiwan has been diagnosed with H7N9 bird flu and is critically ill with the first case of the disease found outside of mainland China.

一名臺灣男子人被確診患有H7N9禽流感，目前病情嚴重，這是中國大陸以外首例確診病例。

The 53-year-old Taiwanese man had been working in the Chinese city of Suzhou from the end of March to April 9, and began feeling feverish shortly after he returned home via Shanghai, according to a statement from Taiwan’s health department.

臺灣衛生署發佈的一份聲明稱，從3月底到4月9日，這名53歲的臺灣人在蘇州工作。在經過上海回臺之後很快就開始感覺發熱。

News that the disease has been found in travellers who had been in China comes as experts are watching closely for signs that the disease can be transmitted from person to person.

前往中國出差的境外人士患病的消息傳出之際，專家正在密切專注這種疾病能夠人傳人的跡象。

“This is an unusually dangerous virus for humans, one of the most lethal influenza viruses we have seen so far,” said Keiji Fukuda, a World Health Organisation official, at a briefing Wednesday in Beijing. He cautioned that researchers are still “at the beginning of understanding this virus.” People also appear to catch the disease from birds more easily than other variants of bird flu, according to the organisation.

世界衛生組織(WHO)官員福田敬二(Keiji Fukuda)週三在北京的一次通報會上說：“這是對人類異常危險的一種病毒，是我們迄今見過的致命性最強的流感病毒之一。”他告誡稱，研究人員還在“理解這種病毒的初始階段”。WHO還指出，相比其它禽流感變體，人類似乎更容易從禽類感染這種病毒。

So far, the WHO says, it does not seem to be transmitted easily between people. However, Chinese authorities last week said they were investigating evidence of infections in some families to see whether the disease has spread from person to person.

WHO表示，迄今爲止，該病毒似乎還不容易人傳人。然而，上週中國當局表示，正在調查一些家庭內傳染的證據，以判斷這種疾病已經出現人傳人。

Taiwan has been particularly alert to spread of avian flu, as hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese businesspeople and Chinese tourists travel back and forth across the strait each month. The region of Suzhou, where the man had been travelling when he became ill, hosts a large number of factories owned by Taiwanese companies.

臺灣對禽流感的傳播保持着高度警惕，因爲每月有數十萬臺灣商人和大陸游客往返海峽兩岸。這名臺灣人患病之前所在的蘇州地區有很多臺資工廠。

The patient in Taiwan told doctors that he had not had been in contact with live or uncooked birds or eggs. Taiwan authorities say they have notified and will be monitoring those people whom the patient came in contact with.

這位臺灣患者告訴醫生，他並沒有禽鳥接觸史，也沒有食用未熟禽類或蛋品。臺灣有關部門表示，已經通知並追蹤這名患者曾經接觸的人。

The virus has infected 108 people and killed 22 in mainland China as of Tuesday, according to authorities there.

中國有關部門稱，截止週二，該病毒已經在中國大陸感染108人，死亡22人。