万物简史 第446期:小生物的世界(17)

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　　or, come to that, any other vertebrates—but if you are a shrimp³ or worm or fruit fly, it can make you wish you had never been born. 或者可以说根本不伤害任何别的脊椎动物——不过，要是你是个小虾、蠕虫或果蝇，你会但愿自己真没有被生出来。

　　Altogether, only about one microbe in a thousand is a pathogen for humans, according to National Geographic⁴, 据《国家地埋杂志》说，总的来说，大约每1000种微生物当中，只有一种是对人类致病的，

　　though, knowing what some of them can do, we could be forgiven for thinking that that is quite enough. 虽然我们知道其中还会有一些干坏事，情有可原地这么认为就够了。

　　Even if mostly benign⁵, microbes are still the number-three killer⁶ in the Western world, 即使大多数生物是无害的，微生物仍是西方世界的第三杀手，

　　and even many less lethal⁷ ones of course make us deeply rue⁸ their existence. 虽然许多不要我们的命，但也弄得我们深深地后悔来到这个世界上。

　　Making a host unwell has certain benefits for the microbe. 把寄主弄得很不舒服，对微生物是有某种好处的。

　　The symptoms of an illness often help to spread the disease. 病症往往有利于传播细菌。

　　Vomiting⁹, sneezing, and diarrhea are excellent methods of getting out of one host and into position for another. 呕吐、打喷嚏和腹泻是细菌离开一个寄主，准备入住另一寄主的好办法。

　　The most effective strategy of all is to enlist¹⁰ the help of a mobile third party. 最有效的方法是找个移动的第三者帮忙。

　　Infectious organisms love mosquitoes because the mosquito's sting delivers them directly to a bloodstream 传染性微生物喜欢蚊子，因为蚊子的螫针可以把它们直接送进流动的血液，

　　where they can get straight to work before the victim's defense¹¹ mechanisms¹² can figure out what's hit them. 趁受害者的防御系统尚未搞清受到什么攻击之前，它们可以马上着手干活。

　　This is why so many grade-A diseases—malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever, encephalitis, 因此，许多A级疾病——疟疾、黄热病、登革热、脑炎，

　　and a hundred or so other less celebrated¹³ but often rapacious¹⁴ maladies—begin with a mosquito bite. 以及100多种其他不大著名而往往又很严重的疾病——都是以被蚊子叮咬开始的。

　　It is a fortunate fluke for us that HIV, the AIDS agent, isn't among them—at least not yet. 对我们来说，很侥幸的是，艾滋病的介体——人体免疫缺陷病毒——不在其中，至少目前还不在其中。

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