The U.S. government issued a grave new warning Wednesday about a cocktail of illegal street drugs made of fentanyl and xylazine that's fueling another wave of American overdose deaths.

美国政府周三就一种由芬太尼和甲苯噻嗪制成的非法街头毒品混合物发出了新的严重警告，这种毒品正在导致另一波美国人过量吸食身亡。

"I'm deeply concerned about what this threat means for the nation," said Dr. Rahul Gupta, head of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

白宫国家药物管制政策办公室主任拉胡尔·古普塔博士说：“我对这种威胁对国家意味着什么深表关切。”

Xylazine, known on the street as tranq, was first lixed to drug deaths in the Northeast but has since spread rapidly in Southern and Western states.

Xylazine，在街上被称为tranq，首先与东北部的毒品死亡有关，但后来在南部和西部各州迅速蔓延。

Speaking with reporters ahead of today's public announcement, Gupta said the Biden administration will formally notify Congress about the public health threat and will then roll out a plan to combat the crisis over the next 90 days.

在今天的公开宣布之前，古普塔对记者说，拜登政府将正式向国会通报这一公共卫生威胁，并将在未来90天内推出一项应对危机的计划。

"This is the first time in our nation's history that a substance is being designated as an emerging threat by any administration," Gupta said.

古普塔说：“这是我们国家历史上第一次有政府将一种物质指定为新出现的威胁。”

Gupta has been on the front lines of the opioid-fentanyl epidemic for decades as drug overdoses surged above 100,000 deaths a year. He said the threat that this latest mix of drugs could make things even worse is alarming.

几十年来，古普塔一直奋斗在阿片类药物-芬太尼流行病的前线，因为每年的药物过量死亡人数激增到10万以上。他说，这种最新的混合药物可能使事情变得更加糟糕，这种威胁令人震惊。

Already, the latest drug data from 2020-2021 shows a stunning increase of fatal overdoses lixed to xylazine, with deaths in the South surging more than 1,000%.

2020-2021年的最新毒品数据已经显示，与甲苯噻嗪有关的致命过量药物的增幅惊人，南方的死亡人数激增，超过1000%。

Public health experts say frequent xylazine users also suffer terrible wounds when they inject the drug.

公共卫生专家说，经常使用甲苯噻嗪的人在注射这种药物时也会留下可怕的伤口。

"People are often ending up having to have amputations of their limbs, or having deep ulcers, infections or sepsis," Gupta said.

古普塔说：“人们最终往往不得不截肢，或出现深层溃疡、感染或败血症。”
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Public health officials and researchers contacted by NPR said the Biden administration is right to raise the alarm about fentanyl and xylazine.

全国公共广播电台联系的公共卫生官员和研究人员说，拜登政府对芬太尼和甲苯噻嗪发出警报是正确的。

"I think it's a tremendous public health risk," said Dr. Stephanie Ann Deutsch, a pediatrician who treats kids exposed to drugs at the Nemours Children's Hospital in Delaware.

“我认为这是一个巨大的公共健康风险，”特拉华州内慕斯儿童医院治疗接触毒品的儿童的儿科医生斯蒂芬妮·安·多伊奇说。

Deutsch published a paper in December warning other pediatricians about her experience struggling to treat young children sickened by fentanyl and xylazine.

多伊奇在12月发表了一篇论文，警告其他儿科医生她在治疗因芬太尼和甲苯噻嗪而患病的儿童时的艰难经历。

"The children didn't respond to the traditional antidotes and in general were quite critically ill."

“孩子们对传统的解毒剂没有反应，并且一般来说，他们的病情相当危急。”

In the coming months, the Biden administration's response is expected to include more testing to identify where xylazine is prent in the street drug supply.

在未来几个月里，拜登政府的应对措施预计将包括进行更多的测试，以确定甲苯噻嗪在哪些地方的街头毒品供应中盛行。

Gupta also called for increased funding for research to find medical treatments for people affected.

古普塔还呼吁增加研究资金，为受影响的人寻找医疗手段。

He said it's also likely the government will consider further regulations for xylazine, which is used legally by veterinarians as an animal tranquilizer.

他说，政府也有可能考虑对甲苯噻嗪进行进一步的监管，兽医将其作为动物镇静剂合法使用。
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Gupta said it may also make sense for Congress to increase criminal penalties, as police try to crack down on dealers and gangs adulterating street drugs with xylazine.

古普塔说，国会增加刑事处罚可能也是有意义的，因为警方试图打击在街头毒品中掺杂甲苯噻嗪的经销商和团伙。

Maritza Perez Medina with the Drug Policy Alliance said she worries that growing fears about xylazine and other synthetic drugs will lead to more arrests rather than better treatment.

毒品政策联盟的玛丽莎·佩雷斯·梅迪纳说，她担心对甲苯噻嗪和其他合成毒品的日益担忧会导致更多的逮捕，而不是更好的治疗。

"We're really targeting people who could benefit from health services," Perez Medina told NPR. "That's my overall concern with the direction the federal government is taking, specifically Congress with criminalizing these emergent substances."

“我们真正针对的是那些可以从健康服务中受益的人，”佩雷斯·梅迪纳告诉NPR。“这是我对联邦政府采取的方向的总体担忧，特别是国会对这些新兴物质的定罪。”

Synthetic drugs including fentanyl, methamphetamines and now xylazine have become a political flashpoint as drug deaths rise.

随着毒品死亡人数的增加，包括芬太尼、甲基苯丙胺和现在的甲苯噻嗪在内的合成毒品已成为一个政治热点。

With the Biden administration pivoting to battle the xylazine-fentanyl cocktail, experts say they expects to see more deadly synthetic drugs making their way onto American streets.

随着拜登政府转向打击芬太尼-甲苯噻嗪混合物毒品，专家们说，他们预计将看到更多致命的合成毒品进入美国街头。