据《每日电讯报》(The Telegraph)报道，世界卫生组织官员近日表示，一旦希腊字母用完，考虑用星座来命名新的新冠变异毒株。

图源：The Telegraph报道截图

报道称，世卫组织新冠疫情技术部门负责人范科霍夫表示，世卫组织正在为新冠变异毒株寻找新的命名方式，以防24个希腊字母不够使用。

In an interview with the Telegraph Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO’s technical chief for Covid-19, said the UN health agency was already looking at new names for mutations amid fears there will be more concerning variants than the 24 letters of the Greek alphabet.

世界卫生组织5月31日宣布，从当天起，把最早在英国、印度等国发现的新冠变异病毒的名称改用希腊字母命名，主要是为了避免对相关国家造成污名化。

中国新闻网报道称，依照新命名方式，最早在英国发现的B.1.1.7变异病毒改称为阿尔法(Alpha)变异病毒；最早在南非发现的B.1.351改称为贝塔(Beta)变异病毒，以此类推。

截至目前，世卫组织已经用希腊字母命名了11种新冠变异毒株，包括了四种“需要关注”的变异病毒（Variant of Concern），如德尔塔与贝塔，四种“需要留意”的变异病毒 (Variant of Interest)，如拉姆达、埃塔等。

图源：CGTN

范科霍夫表示，“我们可能会用完希腊字母，但我们已经在研究下一个系列的命名。”

That system was introduced in late May and so far 11 mutations have been named: four variants of concern, including delta and beta; four variants of interest, such as eta and lambda.

But as the coronavirus continues to mutate, it is possible there will be more key strains than available letters.

“We will possibly run out of the Greek alphabet, but we’re already looking at the next series of names,” said Dr Van Kerkhove, who first requested a colloquial naming system last year to prevent variants being linked to places– a practice deemed discriminatory by the WHO.

“我们实际上正在考虑星座。”范科霍夫称，世卫组织正在研究提案，确保没有人对新的命名感到不满。此前，世卫组织因发音原因，否决了以希腊诸神名字命名变异病毒的提案。

图源：CGTN

Dr Van Kerkhove said star constellations are the current frontrunner to follow the Greek alphabet, suggesting we could one day see variants known as Aries, Gemini or Orion. 

Several alternatives have already been dismissed, including Greek gods and goddesses– partly due to concerns about pronunciation.

The next choice– which won’t affect the scientific names of Sars-Cov-2 variants – could be announced “relatively quickly”. Currently the virus evolution working group and the WHO’s legal team are double checking proposals to “make sure we don't upset anyone with these names”, Dr Van Kerkhove said.

综合来源：The Telegraph CGTN 中国新闻网