More than 11,000 blue tits, small songbirds, have suddenly perished or fallen ill in Germany.

德国有11000多只蓝山雀突然死亡或患病。

Now German conservation group NABU is asking birdwatchers to refrain from refilling their bird feeders or water troughs in an effort to curb transmission of the new crop of illness between birds.

现在，德国环保组织NABU要求观鸟者，不要再给鸟类喂食器或水槽灌满水，以遏制这种新疾病在鸟类之间的传播。

In other words, they’re encouraging social distancing for the blue tits.

换句话说，他们是在呼吁蓝山雀之间保持距离。

Noted signs of illness including breathing problems, food avoidance, ungroomed plumage and fatigue or confusion — evidenced by their willingness to be approached by humans, when normally they would quickly fly away.

目前了解到的该疾病症状包括，呼吸问题、厌食、羽毛凌乱、疲劳或困惑——主要表现为它们能忍受被人类接近，而通常情况下它们会很快飞走。

Laboratory tests on dead-bird specimens revealed a bacterial infection of Suttonella ornithocola, which was discovered in the UK in the 1990s and is known to cause pneumonia in tit species, though blue tits have been the tits most frequently observed with the illness. Scientists are awaiting further test results, which they hope will shed more light on the infection.

通过对死禽标本的实验室检测，发现了一种由细菌感染的鸟鼻吸虫(Suttonella ornithocola)。这种鸟鼻吸虫于上世纪90年代在英国被发现，已知会导致山雀类肺炎，而蓝山雀是该病中最常见的山雀。科学家们正在等待进一步的检测结果，他们希望这些结果能进一步阐释这种病菌。

There are no reports of S. ornithocola threatening animals besides birds. However, the only other known species of the bacterium, Suttonella indologenes, is found only in human hosts. In rare cases, the human pathogen has caused endocarditis, an infection of the heart valves, and peritonitis, inflammation of the abdominal lining.

除了鸟类，目前还没有发现鸟类链球菌威胁其他动物的报道。然而，这种细菌的唯一已知的其他种类，即产肠病毒，只在人类宿主中发现。在极少数情况下，人类病原体会引起心内膜炎(心脏瓣膜感染)和腹膜炎(腹腔内膜炎症)。

The blue tit is distinguished by its blue and yellow coloring and small size, just 4 to 5 inches long. A cousin to the North American chickadee, the blue tit population spans throughout Europe and Eastern Russia, and play an important role in woodland ecology by consuming insects, caterpillars, seeds and nuts.

蓝山雀的特征是全身以蓝色和黄色为主，体积小，通常只有4到5英寸长。蓝山雀是北美山雀的近亲，遍布欧洲和俄罗斯东部，通过食用昆虫、毛虫、种子和坚果，在林地生态中扮演着重要的角色。