科學家使用藥物治療因紅潮而受傷的動物

ed tide, the toxic algae bloom responsible for killing thousands of fish and other marine life in the Gulf of Mexico each year, is intensifying on Florida’s west coast and the Panhandle. The algae has had a devastating effect in Florida and neighboring coastal states, but now researchers are fighting back with a new medical treatment for sea life that offers hope in the fight against the organism responsible for the problem.

每年導致墨西哥灣成千上萬的魚類和其他海洋生物死亡的有毒海藻潮，正在佛羅里達西海岸和狹長地帶加劇。這種藻類已經(jīng)對佛羅里達和鄰近的沿海各州造成了毀滅性的影響，但現(xiàn)在研究人員正在用一種新的海洋生物療法進行反擊，這種療法為對抗造成這一問題的有機體帶來了希望。

“These drugs have a particular kind of component to them, they’re lipophilic, meaning they bind heavily to fats and brevetoxins produced by red tide do the same thing,” said Justin Perrault, director of research at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center.

“這些藥物有一種特殊的成分，它們是親脂的，這意味著它們會與紅潮產(chǎn)生的脂肪和breve產(chǎn)生同樣的作用，”紅海龜海洋生命中心(Loggerhead Marinelife Center)的研究主任賈斯汀·佩羅(Justin Perrault)說。

Doctors with the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Palm Beach are testing the same treatment used to treat cocaine overdoses in humans. The procedure involves injecting special fats into the bloodstream to flush out toxins. The first round of therapy is being conducted on sea turtles.

棕櫚灘紅海龜海洋生活中心的醫(yī)生正在測試治療人類可卡因過量的相同療法。這個過程包括向血液中注入特殊的脂肪以排除毒素。第一輪治療正在對海龜進行。

“We stick a needle directly into the jugular vein in the neck and then there’s this machine that kind of pumps the intravenous lipid emulsion very slowly into the bloodstream and that’s how it’s delivered and it doesn’t take very long,” Perrault explained.

佩羅解釋說:“我們把一根針直接插入頸部的頸靜脈，然后用這個機器把靜脈內(nèi)的脂肪乳劑非常緩慢地泵入血液，這就是輸送的方式，不需要很長時間。”

“The toxin causes neurological symptoms. It causes muscle tremors, head shaking, even seizures with them. In most cases, within two hours of giving them the treatment those symptoms are gone,” Dr. Charles Manire, a veterinarian with the center said.

這種毒素會導致神經(jīng)系統(tǒng)癥狀。它會引起肌肉震顫，搖頭，甚至痙攣。在大多數(shù)情況下，在給予治療后的兩小時內(nèi)，這些癥狀就消失了。

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, the red tide organism — known as “karenia brevis” — has been found in Florida’s Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee and Collier counties.

據(jù)佛羅里達魚類和野生動物委員會稱，這種被稱為“短鰭紅潮”的生物已經(jīng)在佛羅里達的薩拉索塔、夏洛特、李和科利爾縣被發(fā)現(xiàn)。

In October, 58 turtles were reported dead in Collier County, while two others were reported sick or injured, according to the county’s parks and recreation division. Scientists with the Marinelife Center say the solution is a huge improvement from the normal two-to-three-month recovery time for sick turtles. He believes other centers will come knocking on their door for the cure when they expand it to the public in about a year.

根據(jù)科利爾縣公園和娛樂部門的報告，10月份，科利爾縣有58只海龜死亡，另有2只生病或受傷。海洋生活中心的科學家們表示，與患病海龜通常兩到三個月的恢復時間相比，這是一個巨大的進步。他相信，在大約一年的時間里，當其他研究中心將這種療法推廣到公眾時，它們會上門求醫(yī)。

“The human medicine is really, that’s kind of a really unique tie in that we are using what we know in humans to also help marine organisms, including sea turtles. There is no saying that this could not be a worldwide treatment for places that experience these blooms,” Perrault said.

“人類醫(yī)學真的是，這是一種非常獨特的聯(lián)系，因為我們正在利用我們在人類身上的知識來幫助海洋生物，包括海龜。這并不是說，這不能成為世界范圍內(nèi)對那些經(jīng)歷了這些花朵的地方的一種治療。”佩羅說。

In addition to the United States, red tide also poses a problem for countries like Australia, China, New Zealand, India and Vietnam. In Florida, Manire says his team are focusing on the problem where the red tide has hit the hardest.

除了美國，赤潮也給澳大利亞、中國、新西蘭、印度和越南等國帶來了問題。在佛羅里達，Manire說他的團隊正在關注赤潮最嚴重的地方。