研究發現:寨卡病毒可存活在眼中 可通過眼淚傳播

Researchers have found that Zika virus can live in eyes and have identified genetic material from the virus in tears, according to a mouse study released last Tuesday.

根據上週二發佈的一項小鼠實驗，研究人員已發現寨卡病毒可在眼部存活，並在眼淚中發現了寨卡病毒的遺傳物質。

The study, published the U.S. journal Cell Reports, may help explain why some Zika patients develop eye disease and suggests that contact with infected eyes may play a role in spreading the disease.

這項發佈在美國期刊《細胞報告》上的研究，可能有助於解釋爲什麼部分寨卡患者罹患眼疾。

"Our study suggests that the eye could be a reservoir for Zika virus," said Michael Diamond, professor of medicine at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and one of the study's senior authors.

該研究的高級作者之一、聖路易斯華盛頓大學醫學院的教授邁克爾·戴蒙德表示："我們的研究表明，眼睛可能是寨卡病毒的儲主。"

"We need to consider whether people with Zika have infectious virus in their eyes and how long it actually persists."

"我們需要了解寨卡患者的眼部是否存在傳染性病毒以及病毒實際可存活多久。"

Zika virus causes mild disease in most adults but can cause brain damage and death in fetuses.

寨卡病毒在大多數成年人會引起輕微的疾病，但卻可以導致胎兒的腦損傷和死亡。

About a third of all babies infected in utero with Zika show eye disease such as inflammation of the optic nerve, retinal damage or blindness after birth.

在子宮中感染寨卡病毒的嬰兒，大約有三分之一出現了眼部疾病，如視神經發炎、視網膜受損或失明的徵狀。

In the new study, the researchers infected adult mice under the skin, similar to the way humans are infected by mosquitoes, and found live virus in the eyes seven days later. That means that Zika is able to travel to the eye.

在這項新研究中，科學家爲模仿蚊子叮咬而在老鼠皮下注射寨卡病毒，七天後他們發現老鼠的眼睛裏有寨卡病毒。這意味着寨卡病毒可以到達眼睛中。

"Even though we didn't find live virus in mouse tears, that doesn't mean that it couldn't be infectious in humans," said Jonathan Miner, the study's lead author.

該研究的第一作者喬納森·邁納表示："雖然我們未在老鼠眼淚中發現活病毒，但這不表示它對人類無傳染性。"