The Obama administration’s handling of Ebola has become an election issue as Republicans blame White House incompetence for the infection of two Texas healthcare workers with the deadly virus.

奥巴马政府对埃博拉(Ebola)的处理已成为一个选举议题，共和党指责白宫无能，致使两名得克萨斯医护人员感染这种致命病毒。

The White House is on the defensive as it faces questions over how the workers were infected, why one later took two domestic flights and why the US has not banned travellers from Ebola-hit parts of Africa. Ahead of congressional elections on November 4, Republicans are using Ebola to reinforce the party’s accusation that Barack Obama has pursued a weak foreign policy and failed to safeguard Americans.

白宫在面对诸多相关问题时处于守势，包括两名医护人员是怎样感染的，为什么其中一人后来乘坐了两次国内航班，以及为什么美国没有针对来自埃博拉非洲疫区的旅行者实施禁令。在11月4日的国会中期选举前夕，共和党正利用埃博拉来加强他们的指责，即巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)一直奉行软弱的外交政策，未能保护美国人民。

Pat Roberts, a Kansas Republican in an election fight that could determine which party controls the Senate, said this week: “I call on the president to actually lead on this issue, take emergency action and protect American lives before we have an epidemic here at home.”

堪萨斯州共和党人帕特•罗伯茨(Pat Roberts)在本周表示：“我呼吁总统在这一问题上切实发挥领导作用，趁疫情还未在国内爆发之前采取紧急行动，保护美国人民的生命。”他参与了这场能够决定参议院受哪个党控制的选举大战。

In response to criticism, Mr Obama on Wednesday cancelled a presidential trip to fundraising events in New Jersey and Connecticut to chair a meeting of senior cabinet members responsible for confronting the threat of Ebola in the US. He said after the meeting that the US would take a “much more aggressive” approach to containing existing Ebola cases in the US and ensuring hospitals knew how to deal with new ones.

为应对批评，奥巴马在周三取消了前往新泽西和康涅狄格州参加筹款活动的总统行程，以主持召开一场会议，与会者为负责应对埃博拉在美国威胁的内阁高级成员。奥巴马在会后表示美国将采取“更积极”的措施，控制美国的现有埃博拉病例，并确保医院知道如何处理新增病例。

The US president also called European leaders to discuss better co-ordination in the fight against Ebola in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea and to issue a call for more money and personnel to “to bend the curve of the epidemic”.

美国总统还呼吁欧洲领导人商讨更好的协调方法，以迎战塞拉利昂、利比里亚和几内亚的埃博拉疫情，并呼吁投入更多资金和人力来“扭转疫情的发展”。

The meetings were held as US authorities sought to trace 132 people who shared a flight with the second infected health worker who cared for Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian man who died of Ebola last week at a Dallas hospital.

此次会议举行之际，美国政府正努力追踪与第二名受感染医护人员同机过的132人，该名受感染者曾照顾过托马斯•埃里克•邓肯(Thomas Eric Duncan)——上周在达拉斯一家医院死于埃博拉病毒的利比里亚人。

This year’s electoral battles have not been united by a single national theme and the Obama administration is striving to prevent the question of Ebola-related competence from filling the void. Some Democratic groups have sought to turn the tables on Republicans by accusing them of voting to cut the budget of the Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention, the federal agency leading the response, which has come under fire.

今年的选举大战尚未产生一个统一的全国性主题，奥巴马政府正力求阻止埃博拉相关政府能力问题填补这一空白。一些民主党团体试图扭转局势，他们指责共和党投票削减美国疾病控制预防中心(US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)预算，这一领导应对行动的联邦机构已遭到谴责。

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