美国疾控中心为应对这场冠状病毒危机发挥着什么作用？
一名微生物学家在亚特兰大的疾病控制与预防中心使用环形工具处理细菌（© Branden Camp/AP Images）
美国疾病控制与预防中心（Centers for Disease Control and Prevention，简称CDC）致力于保障美国及各个地区的民众的健康。在冠状病毒构成的公共卫生紧急事件占据新闻头条之时，让我们来了解一下疾病控制与预防中心的作用。
问：疾病控制与预防中心是一种什么类型的机构？
答：CDC是美国的全国性公共医卫机构。它隶属于联邦政府的内阁机构美国卫生及公众服务部（U.S. Department of Health and Human Services）。CDC的使命概括而言是控制及预防传染病和慢性病，同时倡导提高健康水平。
CDC的科学家们在乌干达的莫拉玛干布森林（Maramagambo Forest）中捕捉蝙蝠，来研究它们如何将马尔堡（Marburg）病毒传染给人类。（© Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post/Getty Images）
问：疾病控制与预防中心是如何组建的？它是如何应对以前的卫生紧急事件的？
答：CDC总部设在亚特兰大（Atlanta），于1946年组建时被称为防治传播疾病中心（Communicable Disease Center），以取代其前身战区疟疾控制（Malaria Control in War Areas）项目。在二战期间，建有军事基地的地区蚊虫肆虐，该项目曾努力制止携带疟疾病毒的蚊子将其传染给民众。当疟疾在美国得到控制之后，CDC便将其他疾病纳入其工作重点，其中包括斑疹伤寒、痢疾、狂犬病和瘟疫。1952年的一场脊髓灰质炎疫情造成了3145名美国人死亡，并致使21000人残疾。但到1955年，美国医生乔纳斯·索尔克（Jonas Salk）与CDC合作研发出了首个有效的脊髓灰质炎疫苗。到1979年，脊髓灰质炎在美国被根除。
问：疾病控制与预防中心正在如何应对2019新型冠状病毒？
答：1月20日，CDC启动了一个紧急行动中心（Emergency Operations Center），帮助其公共卫生合作伙伴应对这场从中国湖北省武汉市开始爆发的疫情。该中心的专家们监控并分享信息，准备应对公共卫生危机，并迅速协同做出决策。在这个紧急时期，CDC要求从武汉撤离的美国人必须接受两周的隔离检疫。这是CDC50多年来第一次下达隔离检疫令。在调查研究这种尚无已知的治愈方法的病毒的同时，CDC正在发布有关建议。负责监管CDC的美国卫生及公众服务部部长亚历克斯 · 阿扎尔（Alex Azar）表示：“准备应对这类疫情爆发是美国的公共卫生专职人员的……日常生活的一部分。”
问：疾病控制与预防中心为其他国家提供帮助吗？
答：CDC拥有应对与全球公共健康有关的种种问题的长期记录，其中包括1980年代出现的艾滋病病毒/艾滋病（HIV/AIDS）以及2014年爆发的埃博拉（Ebola）疫情。CDC同全世界其他地区的有关官员合作并不是新鲜事。CDC已向世界各地发送了数百套检测包，并计划再发送数千套。以越南为例，河内（Hanoi）、芽庄（Nha Trang）和胡志明市（Ho Chi Minh City）的医院和公共卫生实验室将收到4000套检测包。CDC正在哈萨克斯坦将健康指南翻译成俄罗斯语，并正在很多海外的医院培训医卫人员掌握采样程序。CDC一直在中国展开工作，并有一位专家在那里，而且希望提供更多的支持。CDC的抗冠状病毒国际行动组的负责人芭芭拉·马斯顿（Barbara Marston）博士指出：“我们将其视为下一场疫情以准备应对，尽管我们并不希望如此。”
What is the CDC’s role during the coronavirus crisis?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, works to keep Americans and people everywhere healthy. With the public health emergency posed by the coronavirus dominating the news, it’s a good time to learn about the CDC.
Question: What type of organization is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention?
Answer: The CDC is the national public health institute of the United States. It is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, a Cabinet-level agency of the federal government. The CDC’s overall mission is to control and prevent infectious and chronic diseases while advocating for good health.
Question: How did the CDC come about? And how has it responded to earlier health emergencies?
Answer: Based in Atlanta, the CDC was founded as the Communicable Disease Center in 1946, replacing its predecessor, the Malaria Control in War Areas program. Military bases had been built during World War II in areas that attracted mosquitoes, and the program worked to stop infected mosquitoes from spreading malaria to civilians. Once malaria was controlled in the U.S., CDC broadened its focus to include other diseases, including typhus, dysentery, rabies and plague. A 1952 polio epidemic killed 3,145 Americans and paralyzed another 21,000. But by 1955, American doctor Jonas Salk, who worked in collaboration with the CDC, developed the first effective vaccine for polio. Polio was eradicated in the U.S. by 1979.
Question: How is the CDC responding to the 2019 novel coronavirus?
Answer: On January 20, CDC mobilized an Emergency Operations Center to help its public health partners respond to the outbreak, which began in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Experts at the center monitor and share information, prepare for public health crises, and make speedy collaborative decisions. During this emergency, the CDC has mandated a two-week quarantine for Americans evacuated from Wuhan. It’s the first time in more than 50 years CDC has ordered quarantines. CDC is disseminating advice while investigating the virus, for which there is no known cure. “Preparing for these kinds of outbreaks is part of daily life … for America’s public health professionals,” said U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, whose department oversees the CDC.
Question: Does the CDC help other countries?
Answer: The CDC has a long record of taking on issues related to global public health, including the rise in HIV/AIDS in the 1980s and the Ebola outbreak in 2014. Working with officials in the rest of the world is nothing new. The CDC has sent hundreds of test kits around the world already and plans to send thousands more. Vietnam, for instance, will receive 4,000 for hospitals and public health laboratories in Hanoi, Nha Trang and Ho Chi Minh City. The CDC is translating health guidance into Russian in Kazakhstan and training health workers on sample-collection procedures at scores of overseas hospitals. The CDC has an expert in China as part of its ongoing work there and hopes to send additional support. “We are preparing as if it were the next pandemic while hoping it is not,” said Dr. Barbara Marston, head of the International Task Force for Coronavirus at the CDC.