原文：https://vegnews.com/2020/5/uk-doctors-urge-public-to-go-vegan-to-prevent-future-pandemics

注：译文谨供参考。

UK DOCTORS URGE PUBLIC TO GO VEGAN TO PREVENT FUTURE PANDEMICS

英国医生们敦促广大公众成为纯素食者，以积极预防未来的疾病大流行

“Our industrial scale factory farms are like a ticking time bomb—yet I can guarantee that lentils will not spark a viral pandemic anytime soon,” Gemma Newman, MD said.

嘉玛·纽曼（Gemma Newman）医学博士（MD）表示：“工业规模（大规模）的工厂化农场（动物养殖场）就像一颗（非常危险的）定时炸弹──但是，我可以保证，小扁豆（植物食物）肯定不会很快引发什么病毒大流行。”

by ANNA STAROSTINETSKAYA

作者：ANNA STAROSTINETSKAYA

MAY 14, 2020

2020年5月14日

This week, United Kingdom-based doctor Gemma Newman, MD—known as the “Plant Powered Doctor”—and non-profit organization Plant Based Health Professionals (PBHP) UK teamed up with campaign No Meat May to urge the public to go vegan in an effort to prevent future pandemics. While COVID-19 is thought to have originated in a wet animal market in Wuhan, China, the doctors point out that future zoonotic diseases could come from more traditional forms of animal agriculture. “Some politicians and commentators blame China for COVID-19, but they do not mention that all of the recent major disease outbreaks have been caused by tampering with animals and their habitats, or that our chicken salad and pepperoni pizza could be the next big health risk,” Newman said. “Our industrial scale factory farms are like a ticking time bomb—yet I can guarantee that lentils will not spark a viral pandemic anytime soon.”

英国执业医生嘉玛·纽曼（Gemma Newman）是一位著名的“植物赋能医生”（“Plant Powered Doctor”）。这个星期，嘉玛·纽曼医学博士（MD）和非营利组织“英国植物性健康专业人士”（PBHP UK）联合慈善运动组织“无肉五月”（No Meat May），共同敦促广大公众成为纯素食者，以利于预防未来的疾病大流行。虽然COVID-19（2019冠状病毒病）被认为是起源于中国武汉市的一个潮湿（湿货）动物市场，但这些医生们进一步指出，更传统的动物农业模式也可能诱发未来的人畜共通传染病（zoonotic diseases）。“有些政客和评论员将COVID-19疾病大流行归咎于中国，但是他们却不提最近所有的重大疾病暴发都是由于人类肆意侵犯动物及其栖息地引起的，也不说鸡肉沙拉和意大利辣香肠披萨可能会带来下次巨大的健康风险，”纽曼医生说道。“工业规模（大规模）的工厂化农场（动物养殖场）就像一颗（非常危险的）定时炸弹──但是，我可以保证，小扁豆（植物食物）肯定不会很快引发什么病毒大流行。”

PBHP UK Director Shireen Kassam, MD, a consultant haematologist, seconds Newman’s notion about viral infections and adds that factory farms are also contributing to doctors’ inability to treat patients with bacterial infections. “More than 90 percent of the meat we consume is produced in industrial scale factory farms, which provide the perfect conditions for the generation of novel infections with epidemic and pandemic potential,” Kassam said. “In addition, intensive farming of animals necessitates the widespread use of antibiotics, which has contributed to a dramatic rise in the number of antibiotic-resistant infections affecting humans. We have now entered an era where it is not uncommon for doctors to find themselves treating patients with bacterial infections for which there are no effective antibiotics.”

“英国植物性健康专业人士”组织的负责人希琳·卡萨姆（Shireen Kassam）医学博士（MD）是一名血液学顾问医生，也赞同纽曼医生关于病毒传染病的观点，并补充说工厂化农场（factory farms）还造成了医生无法治疗一些细菌感染病人的局面。“人们消费的90%以上的肉类都是由工业规模的工厂化农场生产的，这些大规模的动物养殖场也为产生能够发展成流行病（epidemic）和大流行病（pandemic）的新型传染病提供了完备的条件，”卡萨姆医生表示。“此外，密集养殖大量动物需要广泛使用抗生素，从而导致侵袭人类的耐抗生素传染病（antibiotic-resistant infections）的数量急剧增加。我们现在已经进入了这样的时代：医生们在治疗细菌感染的病人时，经常发现缺乏有效的抗生素（药物）。”

The doctors urge the public to participate in support programs such as No Meat May, which challenges participants to eliminate meat and other animal products from their diets for at least 31 days. This year, No Meat May saw a record number of 33,000 sign-ups—as compared to only 10,000 in 2019. “It’s hard to say what the COVID-19 effect is, but it’s clear that people are drawing the connection between intensive factory farms and public health concerns—as has been demonstrated by the record number of sign-ups to this year’s campaign,” No Meat May co-founder Ryan Alexander said.

医生们敦促广大公众踊跃参加一些（健康饮食方式的）支持计划，譬如像“无肉五月”（No Meat May）这样的活动，其激励（并免费帮助）参加者在至少31天的饮食中戒除肉类和其他动物产品。今年“无肉五月”活动的报名参加人数达到了创纪录的33,000人──而2019年该活动参加人数只有10,000人。“无肉五月”慈善组织的联合创始人瑞恩·亚历山大（Ryan Alexander）表示：“很难说COVID-19疫情（对不同人）的具体影响是什么，但是很显然人们正在意识到密集型工厂化农场和公共卫生问题之间的关系──今年‘无肉五月’活动的报名参加人数创下了纪录就是一个明证。”

No Meat May surveyed 2,500 of its 33,000 participants this year and found that 38 percent are opting to reduce their consumption of animal products due to concerns about the links between animal agriculture and diseases such as COVID-19. “There is more information about the meat industry causing diseases than ever before, and stronger links between the impacts on our health compared to a meat-free diet,” Hannah Bradshaw, a new No Meat May participant, said. “Although I have only given up meat at this stage and reduced my dairy intake, I will be continuing my journey after May with a view to going vegan in the future.”

“无肉五月”活动组织方调查了今年33,000名参加者中的2,500人，结果发现，其中38%的人是因为担忧动物农业和各种疾病（如COVID-19）之间存在关系，所以决定减少自己的动物制品消费量。“与无肉饮食的情况相比，肉类行业引发各种疾病的相关信息越来越多，而且其在影响我们健康方面有着更强烈的关系，”该活动的一名新参加者汉娜·布拉德肖（Hannah Bradshaw）说道。“虽然现阶段我只是放弃了肉食并减少了奶制品食用量，但是在五月过后，我仍将继续我的（健康饮食）征程，努力在将来成为一名纯素食者。”