エボラ出血熱 国際連携で拡大を食い止めよ

The Yomiuri Shimbun
International cooperation crucial to block spread of fatal Ebola virus
エボラ出血熱　国際連携で拡大を食い止めよ

Widespread infection with Ebola virus has been reported in West Africa. International cooperation is essential to prevent the expansion of this terrible disease.
　西アフリカで、エボラ出血熱の大量感染が起きている。国際社会が連携し、拡大を食い止めなければならない。

The deadly virus has been spreading from Guinea since February. The death toll from the epidemic has topped 900 in Guinea and its two neighboring countries, Sierra Leone and Liberia, marking the largest number of victims since the first patient with Ebola virus was confirmed in 1976.
　感染は今年２月頃、ギニアから広がった。隣接するシエラレオネとリベリアを含め、死者は３国で９００人を超えた。１９７６年に最初の患者が確認されて以来、最大の被害である。

Deaths from the virus have been also confirmed in Nigeria, which does not border any of the other three African countries. A patient with symptoms similar to those of Ebola died in the Middle Eastern country of Saudi Arabia. The deadly virus is thus threatening to spread across the world.
　３国と国境を接していないナイジェリアで死者が出たほか、中東のサウジアラビアでも、似た症状の患者が死亡した。感染が世界に拡散しかねない危険な状況だ。

The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak to be “a public health emergency of international concern” and recommended that countries take measures to prevent the spread of the virus, such as strengthening surveillance at airports and issuing travel advisories.
　世界保健機関（ＷＨＯ）は「国際的な公衆衛生上の緊急事態」を宣言し、空港での監視強化や旅行者への情報提供など拡散防止策を取るよう各国に勧告した。

For its part, Japan should steadily take necessary steps and not regard the outbreak as “a fire on the opposite shore.”
　日本も「対岸の火事」とみなさず、着実に対策を取るべきだ。

Infection with the disease—formally known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever—occurs through contact with blood and other bodily fluids. The fatality rate is extremely high at 50 to 90 percent, as there are no effective treatment methods.
　エボラ出血熱は、患者の血液などに触れることで感染する。有効な治療法はなく、患者の致死率は５０～９０％と極めて高い。

The previous outbreak of the Ebola epidemic occurred mainly in agricultural areas. But this outbreak has reached populous urban areas, threatening to further increase the number of infections. This is a matter of grave concern.
　過去の感染は主に農村部で起きたが、今回は人口の多い都市部にも及んでいる。感染が広がりやすい、憂慮すべき事態である。

To contain the Ebola outbreak, it is crucial to strictly quarantine infected persons. It is also indispensable to keep area residents fully informed about the fatal disease.
　エボラ出血熱の拡大を封じ込めるには、感染者を厳格に隔離することが肝要だ。住民に対する衛生知識の周知徹底も欠かせない。

Separate efforts ineffective

In the three West African countries where mass Ebola infection has been reported, administrative and medical treatment systems remain fragile following the civil wars and coups that have occurred in recent years. There are limits to what these countries can do to deal with the outbreak on their own.
　大量感染が起きた３国は、近年まで内戦やクーデターが続き、行政や医療の体制は今も脆弱ぜいじゃくだ。自力での対処には限界がある。

The fact that many doctors and nurses have been infected with the Ebola virus has increased worries about potential infection, thereby making it difficult to secure medical staff.
　多くの医師や看護師が感染したため動揺が広がり、治療スタッフの確保が困難になっている。

The U.S. government has decided to send an additional 50 medical professionals to West Africa. The decision was apparently made in view of the serious conditions there.
　米国政府は、西アフリカに派遣する医療専門家を５０人増員する方針を決めた。現地の厳しい現状を踏まえてのことだろう。

Japan, for its part, must provide financial and other assistance as much as possible.
　日本も資金援助など、できる限りの支援が求められる。

The Foreign Ministry of Japan has issued information on infection risk in the three West African countries, calling for people to postpone travel to these countries unless essential and urgent. To prevent Ebola infection from reaching Japan, vigilance must not be neglected at borders.
　外務省はギニアなどの３国を対象に「感染症危険情報」を出し、不要不急の渡航を延期するよう呼びかけている。感染を日本に飛び火させないため、水際での警戒を怠ってはならない。

Should domestic infection emerge, the infected persons would be quarantined at a designated medical institution. Procedures for transport and admission of such patients must be verified.
　国内で感染者が出た場合は、指定医療機関に隔離されることになっている。搬送や受け入れの手順を再確認することが大事だ。

However, there is no special facility available domestically to safely handle viruses with a high fatality rate such as Ebola. If there is no alternative but to ask other counties to conduct an analysis of a pathogen, it is feared that there will be delays in implementing countermeasures.
　問題は、エボラ出血熱など致死率の高い感染症のウイルスを安全に扱うための特別な施設が、国内には１か所もないことである。病原体の分析を外国に依頼せざるを得ないようでは、対応が後手に回る恐れがある。

Protecting people’s lives from deadly infectious diseases is an important crisis-management task for the state. The government must step up efforts to bolster such a system.
　国民の命を感染症から守ることも国家の重要な危機管理である。体制の強化を急ぐべきだ。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Aug. 9, 2014)