Infectious-diseases researchers are calling for stricter biosafety measures in farms that breed animals for fur, to stop dangerous pathogens from jumping from animals to people.
传染病研究人员呼吁对饲养毛皮动物的农场采取更严格的生物安全措施，以防止危险病原体从动物传染给人类。

Fur farms can be a bridge between people and the viruses circulating in wildlife, says Eddie Holmes, a virologist at the University of Sydney, Australia. “This is how pandemics happen.”
澳大利亚悉尼大学病毒学家埃迪-霍姆斯（Eddie Holmes）说，毛皮养殖场可以成为人类与野生动物体内病毒之间的桥梁。"大流行病就是这样发生的。

The warnings come off the back of one of the largest studies1 of viruses harboured by fur animals in China. The team, which included Holmes, found a broad array of viruses — including new pathogens and known ones found in new hosts. The study was published in Nature on Wednesday.
这些警告是在对中国毛皮动物携带的病毒进行最大规模的研究 1 之后发出的。包括霍姆斯在内的研究小组发现了大量病毒，包括新的病原体和在新宿主体内发现的已知病原体。这项研究发表在本周三的《自然》杂志上。

Researchers have long suspected that these animals are a reservoir of viruses that can jump to people, says Alice Hughes, a conservation biologist at the University of Hong Kong. The analysis “highlights that these concerns are valid, and that the diversity of viruses with known risks to humans is even greater than was realized”. Hughes says the industry should mandate transitioning to artificial fur.
香港大学保护生物学家爱丽丝-休斯（Alice Hughes）说，长期以来，研究人员一直怀疑这些动物是一个病毒库，可以将病毒传染给人类。这项分析 "强调了这些担忧是有道理的，而且已知对人类有风险的病毒的多样性甚至比人们意识到的还要多"。休斯说，该行业应该强制过渡到人造毛皮。

The other option is to improve regulation and oversight of the fur trade, says Hughes. This includes ensuring the implementation of measures such as animal quarantines, reducing overcrowding and rules around cleaning cages, sourcing feed and waste disposal, she says.
另一个选择是加强对皮毛贸易的监管和监督，休斯说。她说，这包括确保实施动物检疫、减少过度拥挤以及有关清洁笼子、采购饲料和废物处理的规定等措施。

Linfa Wang, a virologist at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore, says the animal-farming and animal-trading industries need to be monitored closely for emerging diseases.
新加坡杜克大学-新加坡国立大学医学院病毒学家 Linfa Wang 说，需要密切监控动物饲养业和动物贸易业，以防新出现的疾病。

Mark Oaten, chief executive of the International Fur Federation in London, which represents farms in more than 40 countries, says farms should operate under the highest biosecurity standards.
代表 40 多个国家农场的伦敦国际毛皮联合会（International Fur Federation）首席执行官马克-奥腾（Mark Oaten）说，农场应该按照最高的生物安全标准运营。

Global industry 全球产业

Fur farming is a global industry, although most farms are found in Europe and China. In 2016, farms in Europe produced 39.05 million mink pelts; Chinese farms produced 26.16 million such pelts.
毛皮养殖是一个全球性产业，但大多数养殖场位于欧洲和中国。2016 年，欧洲的养殖场生产了 3905 万张水貂皮；中国的养殖场生产了 2616 万张水貂皮。

Many animals farmed for their fur are susceptible to human viruses. Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, SARS-CoV-2 spread through mink farms across Europe. But Oaten says studies of these outbreaks found that farmers were not driving the spread of the virus in the general population, and that prevention and surveillance measures implemented by farmers are “the best toolbox to further mitigate any risk for the general public health.”
许多因皮毛而养殖的动物都容易感染人类病毒。在 COVID-19 大流行的早期，SARS-CoV-2 通过水貂养殖场在欧洲各地传播。但 Oaten 说，对这些疫情的研究发现，养殖户并没有推动病毒在普通人群中的传播，养殖户实施的预防和监控措施是 "进一步降低任何普通公共卫生风险的最佳工具箱"。

Mink farms have also had outbreaks of the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus. And a popular fur animal, the raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides), could have played a part in bringing the virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome to people in 20032. Raccoon dogs are also susceptible to, and can spread, SARS-CoV-23.
水貂养殖场也曾爆发过高致病性 H5N1 禽流感病毒。2003 年，一种广受欢迎的毛皮动物--浣熊犬（Nyctereutes procyonoides）可能参与了将可导致严重急性呼吸系统综合征的病毒带给人类的活动 2 。浣熊犬也容易感染并传播 SARS-CoV-2 3 。

Holmes and his colleagues, including several in China, sought to identify the viruses circulating in farms in China. They swabbed lung and gut tissue samples for 461 animals that died between 2021 and 2024. Of these animals, 164 came from four species farmed exclusively for fur: mink (Neogale vison), red fox (Vulpes vulpes), Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) and raccoon dog. The individuals were predominantly from intensive breeding facilities in northeastern China. The rest came from farmed and wild animals used for fur as well as food and traditional medicine, spread more broadly across eastern China. These included guinea pigs, deer and rabbits. The animals had all been sick and had probably died of an infectious disease.
霍姆斯和他的同事（包括几位中国同事）试图找出在中国养殖场中流行的病毒。他们采集了 461 只在 2021 年至 2024 年间死亡的动物的肺部和肠道组织样本。在这些动物中，有 164 只来自四种专为皮毛而养殖的动物：水貂（Neogale vison）、赤狐（Vulpes vulpes）、北极狐（Vulpes lagopus）和貉子。这些个体主要来自中国东北部的集约化养殖场。其余的则来自养殖动物和野生动物，这些动物用于毛皮、食品和传统医药，分布在中国东部更广泛的地区。这些动物包括豚鼠、鹿和兔子。这些动物都生过病，可能死于传染病。

The researchers sequenced RNA and DNA in the tissue samples and found a trove of viruses: 125 were identified in total, including many influenza viruses and coronaviruses.
研究人员对组织样本中的 RNA 和 DNA 进行了测序，发现了大量病毒：共鉴定出 125 种病毒，其中包括多种流感病毒和冠状病毒。

Of these, 36 had never been seen before, and many were found in species not previously known to host them. For instance, they found the Japanese encephalitis virus in guinea pigs and norovirus in mink.
在这些病毒中，有 36 种以前从未见过，许多病毒是在以前不知道会寄生的物种中发现的。例如，他们在豚鼠身上发现了日本脑炎病毒，在水貂身上发现了诺如病毒。

Human receptor 人体受体

The researchers found an H6N2 avian influenza virus in a muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) — the first known identification of this subtype in mammals. And most notably, they found in mink a HKU5-like coronavirus related to viruses that have so far been identified only in bats — evidence that fur farms can act as a highway for viruses lurking in wild animals to get to people.
研究人员在麝鼠（Ondatra zibethicus）体内发现了一种 H6N2 禽流感病毒，这是首次在哺乳动物体内发现这种亚型病毒。最值得注意的是，他们在水貂体内发现了一种类似HKU5的冠状病毒，这种病毒与迄今为止只在蝙蝠体内发现的病毒有关--这证明皮毛养殖场可以成为潜伏在野生动物体内的病毒传染给人类的高速公路。

These viruses “stand out to me the most”, says Michael Letko, a molecular virologist at Washington State University in Pullman. Studies in Letko’s laboratory have shown that some HKU5 viruses might be able to adapt to the human ACE2 receptor to enter cells4, just as certain viruses, such as SARS-CoV-2, do. “A deeper dive into these newly discovered viruses will be important, in order to understand their risk to other animals,” he says.
位于普尔曼的华盛顿州立大学分子病毒学家迈克尔-莱特科（Michael Letko）说，这些病毒 "在我看来最为突出"。莱特科实验室的研究表明，一些HKU5病毒可能能够适应人类ACE2受体进入细胞 4 ，就像SARS-CoV-2等某些病毒一样。"他说："深入研究这些新发现的病毒对了解它们对其他动物的危害非常重要。

The researchers classified some three dozen viruses as most concerning, because of their ability to jump between species. Raccoon dogs and mink each carried ten of these high-risk viruses — the most of any species.
研究人员将大约三十几种病毒列为最令人担忧的病毒，因为它们能够在不同物种之间跳跃。浣熊犬和水貂各携带了十种高危病毒，是所有物种中携带病毒最多的。

Wang says the findings need to be corroborated with epidemiological studies to assess how widespread the viruses are, and infection studies in the lab, which can demonstrate the risk of these viruses infecting people. Even without that evidence, he says, the highest risk of a new pathogen emerging in people “is in the animal industry”.
王说，这些发现需要通过流行病学研究和实验室感染研究来证实，前者可以评估病毒的传播范围，后者可以证明这些病毒感染人类的风险。他说，即使没有这些证据，人感染新病原体的最高风险 "也出现在动物行业"。