莱姆病——一个医学谜团

本文讲述了1975年康涅狄格州莱姆镇爆发神秘疾病，耶鲁医生通过调查患者症状、居住环境及蜱虫叮咬史，最终确认鹿蜱携带的细菌为致病元凶。研究还揭示森林扩张与住宅开发使人类更易接触蜱虫。如今莱姆病已被广泛认知且早期可治。

Lyme Disease——A Medical Mystery
莱姆病——一个医学谜团

In the autumn of 1975, lots of people in Lyme, Connecticut, suffered from a strange illness.
1975年秋天，康涅狄格州莱姆镇的许多人患上了一种奇怪的疾病。

Two doctors from Yale, Allan Steere and Stephen Malawista, began a study that would result in an important medical discovery.
两位来自耶鲁大学的医生——艾伦·斯蒂尔和斯蒂芬·马拉维斯塔——开始了一项研究，最终促成了一项重要的医学发现。

The doctors began by having careful examinations of each patient.
医生们首先对每位患者进行了仔细检查。

They found the patients of all ages were having a set of things hardly seen together, such as headaches, skin rashes (皮疹), swollen knees, fever, tiredness and so on.
他们发现，各年龄段的患者都出现了一组罕有同时发生的症状，如头痛、皮疹、膝盖肿胀、发烧、疲劳等。

There was also a high rate of arthritis (关节炎), a painful condition around the knees.
此外，关节炎（膝关节周围疼痛）的发生率也很高。

No reasons could be found through blood tests.
血液检查未能找到病因。

However, they found the most useful information in the interviews with the patients: one quarter of them recalled a skin rash about four weeks before the arthritis appeared.
然而，他们在与患者的访谈中发现了最有用的信息：四分之一的患者回忆称，在关节炎出现前约四周曾出现过皮疹。

Then the Department of Health did surveys with the Yale doctors to learn where the disease was most widely seen.
随后，卫生部门与耶鲁大学医生合作开展调查，以了解该病最广泛出现的地区。

It seemed that most patients lived in heavily wooded areas, away from the center of town.
似乎大多数患者居住在远离城镇中心的茂密林区。

Besides, most patients spent a good deal of time outdoors, gardening, camping, or playing.
此外，大多数患者花大量时间在户外活动，如园艺、露营或玩耍。

More importantly, some recalled having been bitten by a tick.
更重要的是，一些人回忆起曾被蜱虫叮咬过。

By 1977, researchers began to believe that the deer tick was responsible.
到1977年，研究人员开始认为鹿蜱是致病原因。

Then they discovered that a special type of bacteria (细菌), carried by the deer tick, was causing the disease.
接着他们发现，一种由鹿蜱携带的特殊细菌导致了这种疾病。

It was later named Lyme bacteria.
它后来被命名为“莱姆菌”。

The deer tick often feeds on deer. But we can also find it on mice.
鹿蜱常以鹿为食，但我们也能在老鼠身上发现它们。

Scientists then concluded that the bacteria passed from wildlife to ticks to humans. All lived closely among one another in the area.
科学家由此得出结论：细菌从野生动物传播到蜱虫，再传给人；这些生物在该区域彼此紧密共存。

How could a disease break out so suddenly?
为何一种疾病会如此突然爆发？

Many areas of the northeast, including Lyme, Connecticut, were once farmland.
包括康涅狄格州莱姆在内的美国东北部许多地区，过去曾是农田。

Over the years, the farmland was replanted with trees. After the forest grew in, all kinds of wildlife appeared.
多年来，农田重新种上了树木；森林形成后，各种野生动物随之出现。

At the same time, this area was developed with houses. Gradually, neighborhoods pushed deeper into the home of the wildlife. Humans became more likely to meet more ticks and get the disease.
与此同时，该地区建起了房屋；渐渐地，居民区深入野生动物栖息地，人类更易接触更多蜱虫并感染疾病。

After much research, the cause of Lyme disease was successfully identified (确认), thanks to the hard work of many scientists, doctors and patients.
经过大量研究，得益于众多科学家、医生和患者的辛勤努力，莱姆病的病因终于被成功确认。

Today, more and more people have knowledge of Lyme disease, which is easily treated if caught early.
如今，越来越多的人了解莱姆病，若早期发现则易于治疗。