Huge vaccine scandal provokes outrage in China

Thirty-seven people have been arrested in eastern China over a huge vaccine scandal, state media report.

据中国国家媒体报道，因一桩大型的疫苗丑闻遭到披露，中国东部有37人遭到逮捕。

It comes after police in Shandong announced last month they had arrested a mother and her daughter accused of buying and selling vaccines illegally.

上个月，山东省公安部门宣布抓获一对涉嫌非法买卖疫苗的母女。

The estimated 88m dollars worth of vaccines were not properly refrigerated or transported.

这批价值8800万美元（6100万英镑）的疫苗在冷藏和运输过程中没有得到妥善保管。

The illegal vaccine ring, said to have been in operation since 2011, has sparked widespread anger in China.

据悉这一引发全国民愤的非法集团自2011年起便开始从事疫苗的买卖活动。

The scandal has led to a crackdown, with checks ordered on vaccine makers, wholesalers and buyers.

这起丑闻导致当局出台严格的管控措施，要求对疫苗的生产商，批发商和采购商进行检查。

The vaccines were bought from a variety of sources, both licensed and unlicensed, then sold on to both illegal agents and legal local disease control and prevention centres at inflated prices, reported the Xinhua news agency.

据新华社报道，这些疫苗来源成分复杂，其中包括未经批准上市的产品。这批疫苗皆以高价出售给非法代理商和当地正规的疾病防治中心。

The ring is alleged to have involved hundreds of people across 20 provinces, it said.

这家非法集团有来自20省的数百名员工。

Though authorities had known about it since April last year, they only made the news public late on Friday when they issued a call demanding that suppliers come forward to help them trace potential victims.

有关部门自去年4月起便已了解此事，然而直到上周五才对外界公布，要求疫苗供应商协助当局追踪疫苗的去向。

The delay has angered many people in China who questioned why the authorities had not alerted the public earlier.

这一做法激怒了中国民众，引发对当局没有提前发出警告的质疑。

Local authorities have now been given a deadline of Friday to identify who bought the medicines.

当地卫生部门接到命令，要求在周五前厘清疫苗的去向。

Three pharmaceutical companies are being investigated, Xinhua reports, citing people handling the case. One, Shandong Zhaoxin Bio-tech Co, has been ordered to suspend operations, it added.

新华社援引办案人员描述称三家制药公司正在接受调查，其中山东兆信生物科技有限公司已被勒令停业。

The China office of the World Health Organization (WHO) said vaccines needed to be handled properly or they can become less effective.

世界卫生组织中国办事处称疫苗应进行妥善保管，否则其作用将遭到削弱。

But it stressed that improperly kept vaccines did not in themselves present much danger.

不过该办事处强调未经妥善处理的疫苗本身不具有严重的危害性。

"It is important to note, however, that improperly stored or expired vaccine seldom if ever causes a toxic reaction. Therefore there is likely to be minimal safety risk in this particular situation,'' the WHO said.

世界卫生组织表示"要重点指出的是，不当储存的疫苗和过期的疫苗一般不会造成毒性反应。因此即便接种了这样的疫苗，风险也是极小的。"