康斯坦特·萨梅·巴加尔瓦，伊芙·布伦南 卢旺帕拉，刚果——专家表示，在刚果进行的一项药物试验已招募250多名参与者，该药物有望阻止他们感染埃博拉病毒，这是试图遏制这种疾病在中非国家最致命爆发的关键一步。
CONSTANT SAME BAGALWA, EVE BRENNAN RWAMPARA, Congo — More than 250 participants have been enrolled in a trial for a drug that could stop them from contracting Ebola in Congo , in what experts have described as a critical step to try to fight the deadliest outbreak of the disease in the Central African country.
该药物针对布迪布焦病毒，后者导致了这场快速蔓延的疫情，且目前尚无获批的疫苗或治疗方法。试验于7月启动，是为寻找某种防护手段、至少减缓疫情而启动的多项研究之一。
The drug is targeted at Bundibugyo virus, which is responsible for the fast-moving outbreak and is without an approved vaccine or treatment. The trial began in July and is one of several studies launched to find some protection and another way of at least slowing the outbreak.
美联社本周采访了位于东部伊图里省卫生中心的试验参与者和医生，该省是此次疫情的震中。参与者包括在此次疫情中接触过病毒的人群，其中包括医护人员和患者亲属。
The Associated Press spoke this week to participants and doctors at the health center where the trial is taking place in the eastern province of Ituri, the epicenter of the outbreak. The participants include people who have been exposed to the disease in this outbreak, among them health workers and patients’ relatives.
自5月中旬在刚果东部宣布爆发埃博拉疫情以来，已记录至少8300例确诊病例，包括4000例死亡病例。疫情已蔓延至七个省份，并继续超越追踪和遏制工作的速度，当局表示。
At least 8,300 confirmed cases , including 4,000 deaths, have been recorded since this Ebola outbreak was declared in mid-May in eastern Congo. It has spread to seven provinces and continues to outpace efforts to track and slow it, authorities say.
此次试验测试的是吉利德公司的实验性抗病毒药丸——奥贝德西韦，在疑似接触病毒后尽快服用，以防止疾病发作。这种方法称为暴露后预防（PEP）。
The trial is testing Gilead’s experimental antiviral pill, called obeldesivir, which is given soon after suspected contact with the virus to prevent the disease from developing. That approach is called post-exposure prophylaxis, or PEP.
一名名为EBO-PEP的试验参与者告诉美联社，她于8月在丈夫检测出埃博拉阳性后参加了研究。她说到目前为止，她家里没有人出现症状。
One participant in the trial known as EBO-PEP told AP that she enrolled in the study in August after her husband tested positive for Ebola. She says so far no one from her family developed symptoms.
她和其他试验参与者要求匿名，以保护隐私，因为埃博拉疫情和医疗方案涉及敏感性质。
She and other trial participants requested anonymity to protect their privacy due to the sensitive nature of the Ebola outbreak and the medical protocol involved.
埃博拉病毒病仅在症状出现后才会传播。接触过感染患者的人只能等待，看自己是否会发病。在刚果，寻找感染邦迪布焦病毒高风险人群——即接触者追踪——已被证明颇具挑战。
Ebola disease only spreads once symptoms begin. People exposed to infected patients have to wait to see if they get sick. Finding people at high risk of incubating the Bundibugyo virus — also known as contact tracing — has proved difficult in Congo.
另一位参与者表示，他的两名家人感染了埃博拉，其中一人死亡。“这种病会要命。最好采取预防措施，”他说。
Another participant said two of their family members had caught Ebola, and one of them had died. “This disease is killing. It’s better to take precautions,” he said.
该试验由医疗非营利组织ALIMA协调，旨在招募近1000名年龄在12岁以上的成人或儿童，他们在过去五天内接触过确诊病例但无症状。其中一半人将接受安慰剂。
The trial, coordinated by ALIMA, a medical nonprofit, aims to recruit nearly 1,000 adults or children over the age of 12 who have come into contact with a confirmed case within the last five days but have no symptoms. Half will get a placebo.
据参与试验的Godefroid Basara医生介绍，参与者将接受为期21天的每日现场监测，并在42天后进行最后一次电话随访。
Participants are monitored in person every day for 21 days, with a final phone call after 42 days, according to Dr. Godefroid Basara, who is working on the trial.
ALIMA表示，如果试验参与者开始出现症状，将立即接受支持性治疗，这在症状早期被发现时已被证明有帮助。如果该药丸被证明有效，可能有助于切断传染链。
ALIMA said that if trial participants begin to develop symptoms, they will immediately receive supportive treatment, which has been shown to be helpful when symptoms are caught early. If the pill proves effective, it could help break the infection chain.
“它不同于疫苗，后者可能需要数天或数周才能提供保护。它也不同于治疗性疗法，因为它面向的是尚未出现症状的人群，”ALIMA研究协调员Guilavogui Jean Paul Yassa医生说。
“It differs from a vaccine, which may take days or weeks to provide protection. It is also different from curative treatment because it is intended for people who are not yet showing symptoms,” ALIMA research coordinator Dr. Guilavogui Jean Paul Yassa said.
在试验中心与ALIMA合作的研究医生Jacques Zawadi表示，大多数参与者乐意参加研究，但鼓励居住在远离中心的人报名颇具挑战。他说，当参与者得知家人死于该病时，研究有时会受到干扰。
Dr. Jacques Zawadi, an investigating physician working with ALIMA at the trial center, said most participants are happy to take part in the study, but it had been challenging encouraging some people who live far from the center to sign up. He said the study is sometimes disrupted when participants find out their family members have died from the disease.
“这是我们面临的最大挑战。当一个人情绪受到影响时，很难与他们讲理并确保他们返回研究，”他说。
“This is the biggest challenge we face. When a person is emotionally affected, it is not easy to reason with them and ensure they return to the study,” he said.
试验合作伙伴还包括刚果国家生物医学研究所和法国ANRS新发传染病研究所。
The trial partners also include Congo’s National Institute of Biomedical Research and the French institute ANRS Emerging Infectious Diseases.
随着其他地方的新疫苗正在研发中，刚果开始用Ervebo疫苗为医护人员接种，该疫苗在由另一种更常见病毒引起的先前埃博拉疫情中有效。当局表示，Ervebo可能对邦迪布焦病毒提供一定保护，但该疫苗是否真能预防疾病仍在研究中。
As new vaccines are under development elsewhere, Congo started vaccinating health workers with the Ervebo vaccine which was effective during previous Ebola outbreaks caused by a different, more common virus. Authorities have said Ervebo could offer some protection against Bundibugyo, but whether the vaccine can actually prevent illness is still being studied.
周四，人道主义组织无国界医生表示，一名工作人员埃博拉检测呈阳性，正被撤离至荷兰。6月，一名ALIMA组织的人道主义医生在从病毒热点地区返回法国后也检测呈阳性。
On Thursday, humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders said a staff member had tested positive for Ebola and was being evacuated to the Netherlands.
世界卫生组织表示，疫情持续超越追踪和减缓传播的努力，并有望超过2014年至2016年西非的区域性疫情——有记录以来最致命的疫情——那次疫情造成11,000人死亡。
In June, a humanitarian physician with ALIMA also tested positive after returning to France from one of the virus hot spots.
Brennan在塞内加尔达喀尔报道。Lauran Neergaard在美国华盛顿特区供稿。了解更多关于非洲和发展的信息：美联社接受盖茨基金会的资金支持，用于非洲全球健康和发展报道。美联社对所有内容承担全部责任。请访问AP.org查看美联社与慈善机构合作的标准、支持者名单和资助报道领域。
The World Health Organization has said the outbreak continues to outpace efforts to track and slow the spread, and is set to exceed West Africa’s regional outbreak between 2014 and 2016 — the deadliest on record — which killed 11,000 people. Brennan reported from Dakar, Senegal. Lauran Neergaard contributed from Washington, D.C. For more on Africa and development: