EBOLA IS A terrifying(可怕的) virus that kills 30-50% of the people it infects. Fortunately, the world has been getting better at fighting it. Since 2015 vaccines for Zaire, the most common Ebola strain(菌株；毒株), have limited its spread whenever hotspots emerged in Africa. Genetic sequencing of that strain has allowed rapid testing, which makes contact-tracing easier. African governments, helped by NGOs, have learned how to triage(分诊；分类) and isolate patients. Crucially, they have also won the trust of locals, who are horrified by haemorrhagic(出血的) fevers.
埃博拉是一种可怕的病毒，致死率高达30%-50%。幸运的是，世界在对抗它的过程中越来越有经验。自2015年以来，针对最常见埃博拉毒株扎伊尔的疫苗在非洲热点地区出现时遏制了其传播。对该毒株的基因测序使得快速检测成为可能，从而简化了接触者追踪。在非政府组织的帮助下，非洲各国政府学会了如何对患者进行分诊和隔离。关键的是，它们还赢得了当地人的信任，这些人对出血热感到恐惧。
But the latest Ebola outbreak is caused by a rarer strain, Bundibugyo, for which there is no licensed(获许可的；获批的) vaccine or rapid test. For months it swept undetected(未被察觉地席卷) through eastern Congo. Aid cuts meant fewer health workers were watching out.
但最新的埃博拉疫情由一种更罕见的毒株Bundibugyo引起，该毒株尚无获批疫苗或快速检测手段。数月来，它悄无声息地席卷了刚果（金）东部。援助削减意味着监测的卫生人员减少。
On May 17th the UN’s World Health Organisation (WHO) called the outbreak a public-health emergency of international concern(国际关注的公共卫生紧急事件). By May 20th the tally(计数；总数) of almost 600 suspected cases and 139 deaths was suggesting that this epidemic will be the worst Ebola emergency since at least 2018, when more than 2,000 people died in the same region. To avoid such a grim death toll(严峻的死亡人数)—let alone(更不用说) that of 2014-16, when 11,000 perished in west Africa—urgent, co-ordinated action is needed. So far it has been lacking.
5月17日，联合国世界卫生组织（WHO）宣布此次疫情为国际关注的公共卫生紧急事件。截至5月20日，近600例疑似病例和139例死亡表明，这场流行将是至少自2018年以来最严重的埃博拉疫情，当时同一地区有2000多人死亡。要避免如此严峻的死亡人数——更不用说2014-16年西非1.1万人死亡的情况——迫切需要采取协调一致的行动。但迄今为止行动不足。