新型冠狀病毒疫情在中國發生後，美國共和黨反華參議員湯姆·科頓（Tom Cotton）忙得不可開交，發表了一系列“無知言論”，宣稱病毒是武漢實驗室洩露的生化武器。

他要求美國政府立刻封殺中國，並要求所有美國人逃離中國。

估計科頓沒有料到，他這番聳人聽聞的言論連美國媒體都看不下去了。《赫芬頓郵報》提醒讀者，別聽科頓胡扯。

文章在副標題裡寫道，這位共和黨議員在過去一週散播謠言、製造恐慌。

The GOP senator has spread misinformation and panic in a weeks-long meltdown over the disease.

《赫芬頓郵報》在文中寫道，科頓這樣的陰謀論——武漢實驗室洩露病毒，早就被全球學者專家輪番揭批過。但美國的街頭小報和保守派民粹媒體嗅到這抹黑中國的謠言後，仍不肯放過，四處發文擴散，其中就包括右翼網站《華盛頓時報》。

Cotton suggested the coronavirus could have come from a Chinese "super laboratory that works with the world's most deadly pathogens," boosting a debunked fringe theory circulating among tabloids and conservative media outlets.

CD君去《華盛頓時報》網站上一看，果不其然。文章援引一名前以色列軍方官員的言論稱，該病毒可能與一個生物武器專案有關。

與《華盛頓時報》只有一字之差的美國主流媒體之一的《華盛頓郵報》也忍不住批前者稱，儘管尚無公開證據，但類似於《華盛頓時報》傳播的這種謠言，現在在社交媒體上和陰謀論網站上到處都是。

Despite little public evidence, the theory has spread widely on social media, to conspiracy theory websites and in some international news outlets.

美國高官滿嘴跑火車帶頭造謠，惹怒了眾多業界專家、學者。

哈佛教授出頭怒批：“極其荒謬”

哈佛大學流行病學和免疫學副教授邁克·米納告訴《赫芬頓郵報》，“這種說法太荒謬”。“所有跡象都指向一種病原體，該病原體已在動物體內傳播並且傳染給了人類。這樣的傳播方式對此類病毒而言很常見，他沒有任何理由可以這樣說。”

"It's a ridiculous assertion," said Dr. Michael Mina, assistant professor of epidemiology and immunology at Harvard University.

"All signs point to a pathogen that has been circulating in animals and jumped to humans. It's pretty common for these viruses and there's no good reason for him to be saying something like that."

除此以外，還有一票“業界大神”出來澄清，稱這樣的陰謀論簡直是胡扯。《華盛頓郵報》援引了相關領域5名專家的評論，他們均表示，武漢實驗室洩露病毒的論調簡直無知，並給讀者進行了簡單的科普。

美國羅格斯大學化學生物學教授理查德·艾布賴特（Richard Ebright）：

根據病毒基因組和特性，沒有任何跡象表明它是一種工程病毒。

"Based on the virus genome and properties there is no indication whatsoever that it was an engineered virus," said Richard Ebright, a professor of chemical biology at Rutgers University.

馬里蘭州生物安全專家蒂姆·特雷文（Tim Trevan）：

“絕大多數新型、重大疾疫情……都不是人為的。

"The vast majority of new, nasty diseases ... come from nature," he said.

馬里蘭大學化學武器專家彌爾頓·利滕伯格（Milton Leitenberg）：

Milton Leitenberg, an expert on chemical weapons at the University of Maryland, said he and other analysts around the world had discussed the possibility that weapons development at the Wuhan lab could have led to the coronavirus outbreak in a private email chain but that no one had found convincing evidence to support the theory.

新美國安全中心的研究員埃爾莎·卡尼亞（Elsa Kania）：

從理論上講，生物武器將被設計成具有很強的針對性，而自從它爆發以來，冠狀病毒已經廣泛傳播。Hypothetically, a bioweapon would be designed to be highly targeted in its effects, whereas since its outbreak the coronavirus is already on track to become widespread in China and worldwide,” she said.

麻省理工學院教授維平·納朗（Vipin Narang）：

生物武器“理論上具有很高的致死率，低傳播感染率”，傳播這樣的陰謀論“極其不負責任”。

...a good bioweapon "in theory has high lethality but low, not [high], communicability" and that spreading such ideas would be "incredibly irresponsible".

還有網友一眼就看透了他“陰謀論”背後的政治目的。

別再為了政治目的宣傳/暗示陰謀論了。病毒總是會進行抗原轉變，我們都必須要接受這個問題。更可能的是環境變化加劇了轉變。

極端不負責任的言論，人們指望你說出的是事實，議員先生。

專家勸美國官員閉上嘴：後果尤為嚴重

疫情爆發導致謠言四起，在社交媒體上尤為嚴重。

《赫芬頓郵報》在文中稱，許多傳染病專家提醒大家，在他們對疫情的危害性做出評估期間，大家要有耐心，尤其不要接受科頓製造的恐懼。

… many infectious disease experts have urged patience while they assess the true dangers of the outbreak and cautioned against the kind of fearmongering that Cotton has embraced.

The outbreak has resulted in massive amounts of disinformation, viral social media falsehoods and online grifters attempting to cash in on the virus. Some conspiracy theorists have even promoted drinking dangerous bleach as a cure.

除此以外，該病毒還引發許多國家的反華情緒，促使地方官員和社群組織譴責針對華人社群不斷高漲的種族主義浪潮。

The virus has also led to anti-Chinese sentiment in numerous countries, prompting local officials and community organizations to denounce surging racism against Chinese communities.

對此，約翰霍普金斯大學健康安全中心高階學者塔拉·柯克·賽爾博士提醒道，圍繞疫情出現的這些虛假資訊絕對是個問題。“如果我們破壞信任，妨礙應對公共安全事件，那麼，對於阻止疫情爆發來說，這是非常危險而且非常有害的。”

"Misinformation around these outbreaks is definitely a problem," said Dr. Tara Kirk Sell, senior scholar at Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. "When we undermine trust and get in the way of a public health response, those things can be really dangerous and really bad for trying to stop an outbreak."

衛生專家和新聞工作者都在致力於阻止虛假資訊的傳播，試圖揭露圍繞病毒及其起源的謠言。哈佛大學流行病學和免疫學副教授邁克·米納表示，“在人群中引發恐慌，從來都不是一件有用的事情……”

Health professionals and journalists have attempted to push back against the torrent of false information, debunking many of the myths around the virus and its origins.

"Panic is never a useful thing to elicit in a population ..." Mina said.

國際衛生專家：中國已經竭盡一切所能了

這篇文章看透了科頓的心理，作為反華頑固派的科頓，瞄準了這次疫情的“好時機”，大肆抨擊中國。

衛生專家稱，事實上，中國已經相當迅速地採取措施應對新型冠狀病毒，並提醒國際組織官員注意該問題，此外，還分享該病毒的資訊幫助流行病學專家進行研究和追蹤。

But China has actually been fairly quick to address the virus and to alert international officials to the problem, according to health experts, and has as shared information on the virus that has helped epidemiologists study and track it.

國際衛生組織和美國官員在很大程度上讚揚中國對這場危機的迅速反應。

…international health organizations and US officials have largely praised China's reaction to the crisis.

哈佛大學流行病學和免疫學副教授米納表示，“他們（中國）已經做了大家希望的一切，並且其所作的是當今其他任何國家/地區都採用的標準做法。”

"They have done everything that you could hope for and is current-day standard practice that would be done in any other country," Mina said.

武漢病毒所研究院：“我用生命擔保，與實驗室沒有關係”

中國科學院武漢病毒所研究員石正麗2月2日下午3時左右，在自己個人微信朋友圈發文：2019年新型冠狀病毒是大自然給人類不文明生活習慣的懲罰，我石正麗用我的生命擔保，與實驗室沒有關係。奉勸那些相信並傳播謠傳的人，閉上你們的臭嘴。同時轉發這個打臉訊息：印度學者已經決定撤回這篇預印本文章。

作為石正麗的長期合作伙伴，美國非盈利組織環保生態健康聯盟疾病生態學家彼得·達薩克（Peter Daszak）在接受《科學》（Science）雜誌採訪時表示，每當新疾病、新病毒出現時，都會產生諸如實驗室洩漏或者生物工程製造一類的“陰謀論”。“這令人羞恥！”

… her longtime collaborator, disease ecologist Peter Daszak of the EcoHealth Alliance, dismissed Ebright’s conjecture. "Every time there’s an emerging disease, a new virus, the same story comes out: This is a spillover or the release of an agent or a bioengineered virus," Daszak says. "It’s just a shame."

最後奉勸美國共和黨反華參議員湯姆·科頓，莫要信口開河一時爽，成為國際笑柄。這是疫情戰場，不要你的政治秀場。