The United States government has begun the first clinical testing of an experimental vaccine designed to guard against Zika virus.
美国政府已经开始对一种旨在预防寨卡病毒的实验性疫苗展开首次临床试验。
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases made the announcement earlier this week.
美国国立过敏症和传染病研究所本周早些时候宣布了这一消息。
The experimental vaccine has already been tested in animals.
这种实验性疫苗已经在动物中进行了测试。
Anthony Fauci, the institute's director, said on Wednesday that investigators should know soon whether the vaccine is safe for use in human beings. He said the first human tests involve 40 human volunteers in the U.S.
该研究所所长安东尼·福西（Anthony Fauci）周三表示，研究人员应该很快就能知道这种疫苗对人体是否安全。他说，首次人体测试涉及到了美国的40名人类志愿者。
"If we get a good immune response and there are no safety red flags by the end of December 2016, we should know if it's okay to move on to phase II." He said the second phase could begin early next year.
福西表示，“如果疫苗可以获得良好的免疫反应，并且到2016年年底没有出现安全警示，我们可能就知道是否可以进入到第二阶段。”他说第二阶段试验可能会在明年年初进行。
Those trials will be larger studies, involving more volunteers. They would be performed in countries where Zika has spread. There, researchers would look not only at the safety of the experimental vaccine, but its effectiveness in fighting infection.
这些试验将会是更加大型的研究，涉及更多的志愿者。试验将会在寨卡已经蔓延的国家进行。在那里，研究人员不仅会着眼于实验性疫苗的安全性，还将关注它在对抗感染上的效力。
Infected mosquitoes can pass the virus to people. It can also be passed through sexual contact.
受感染的蚊子可以将这种病毒传播给他人。它还可以通过性接触传播。
Zika usually causes minor problems in healthy people. But there is a real danger if an infected insect bites a pregnant woman. The infection could spread to the fetus she is carrying.
寨卡对健康人群造成的影响甚微。但是如果受感染蚊虫叮咬孕妇就会非常危险。这种感染可能会传染孕妇肚中的胎儿。
If infected with the virus, women can give birth to babies with a severe condition known as microcephaly. The heads and brains of those babies are unusually small. Microcephaly can cause many mental and physical problems and even death.
如果感染这种病毒，妇女会生下患有小头症的婴儿。这些婴儿的头和大脑都异常之小。小头症能引起很多心理和生理上的问题，甚至是死亡。
At first, the vaccine's main target will be women of the age when many women give birth. Researchers would also be looking to prevent the disease in the general adult population.
最初，该疫苗的主要目标是孕龄妇女。研究人员也希望在普通成人种群中预防这种疾病。
New technique
新技术
The vaccine was developed with a relatively new technology. It was scientifically engineered to contain a small piece of DNA from the virus. DNA is short for deoxyribonucleic acid, which contains the biological commands for Zika. The piece is so small that it is not infectious. But it is big enough to produce a reaction from the body's natural defenses for fighting disease.
这种疫苗采用了一种相对较新的技术来开发。它经过科学地设计，将一小片来自该病毒的DNA纳入疫苗。DNA是脱氧核糖核酸的简称，它包含了寨卡病毒的生物指令。这片DNA是如此之小，所以不具感染性。但是它又足够大到让人体产生对抗疾病的天然反应。
Fauci said the DNA method makes it easy to provide the vaccine quickly. "We cannot afford to delay the development of a safe and effective vaccine to prevent Zika virus infection," he added.
福西表示，这种DNA方法可以容易地快速提供疫苗。他补充说，“我们不能拖延一种安全有效的疫苗的开发，以防止寨卡病毒感染。”
Zika infections have been reported in 50 countries and territories. Most cases are in Central and South America and the Caribbean. This week, U.S. officials announced that a number of people in the state of Florida have been infected. They said all the infections resulted from infected mosquitoes.
寨卡感染已经在50个国家和地区有所报道。大多数病例发生在中南美洲和加勒比海地区。本周美国官员宣布，佛罗里达州一些人已经被感染。他们表示，所有感染都是因为受感染的蚊子。
I'm Anne Ball.
我是安妮·波尔。(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利，未经授权请勿转载，违者必究！)