美国国家公共电台 NPR--Health experts say warmer Northeast winters contribute to more active deer ticks

Health experts say warmer Northeast winters contribute to more active deer ticks

Transcript¹

Warmer winters means "tick season" is now year-round in the Northeast, with people experiencing bites that can lead to a variety of diseases.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Milder winters in the Northeast are making deer ticks more active at a time when they're usually dormant². Experts are calling that a growing public health threat. Here's Connecticut Public Radio's Michayla Savitt.

MICHAYLA SAVITT, BYLINE³: Deer ticks are tiny. They bite thousands of people every year in New England. The species can pass on Lyme disease and other sicknesses, which can be very serious. Dr. Toni Lyn Morelli is with the Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center. While 40 degrees doesn't feel warm, she says that's when adult deer ticks will seek hosts in winter.

TONI LYN MORELLI: We can think about being careful when the kids go outside to check for ticks when they come back in in certain months of the year. It's becoming a year-round check-yourself-for-ticks situation.

SAVITT: The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven⁴ helps people learn whether a deer tick bite gave them a disease. Entomology department head Dr. Goudarz Molaei says 275 tick samples have come in since December 1, much more than past winters. He opens one of the envelopes mailed into to the lab. Molaei pulls out a tick so swollen⁵, it's almost unrecognizable. He says it might have fed for several days, making it more likely to transmit an infection.

GOUDARZ MOLAEI: This is a fully⁶ engorged tick. It's a tick of concern, and we will proceed with that.

SAVITT: Research technician Noelle Khalil tests to see if the adult female tick carried Lyme, anaplasmosis or another tick-borne disease. She mixes it with liquids in a vial, then shakes it to break up tissue before it goes in a centrifuge.

NOELLE KHALIL: It's going to spin all this debris⁷ you see to the bottom.

SAVITT: Results take a few days to come back after more steps and a PCR test. Centers for Disease Control data show Lyme disease rates have been steadily⁸ increasing in the U.S. New England states have seen the biggest increase of cases and overall rate of infection. Dr. Megan Linske is another scientist at the lab. She ties this to the warming climate.

MEGAN LINSKE: Everybody is looking for the scapegoat⁹ when it comes to vector-borne diseases and ticks and tick-borne diseases. And I think climate change is a big one.

SAVITT: New England temperatures are rising faster than the world average, and the largest temperature increases are happening during winter. Linske says that could lead to more native and non-native ticks.

LINSKE: And without that limiting factor of winter, we're going to see more of those pop up. And we're going to see more of them establish in the Northeast as well.

SAVITT: Chantal Foster is an avid¹⁰ hiker from central Connecticut and no stranger to ticks. Her dog has had Lyme disease before and recovered, but Foster hasn't had it. Just this February, she had to pick ticks off her dog after two hikes. She's careful that neither of them get bitten.

CHANTAL FOSTER: If you're just paying attention to what you're doing, you should be OK. That's not to say that it can't happen, but I'm not going to not go outside.

SAVITT: Dr. Linske with the tick lab says while they research how to manage tick populations, people in the Northeast must learn to coexist with them year-round. That includes avoiding brushy, wooded areas and tall grass and doing a full body check of people and pets after being outdoors. For NPR News, I'm Michayla Savitt in New Haven, Conn.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 dormant   

adj.暂停活动的；休眠的；潜伏的

参考例句：

• Many animals are in a dormant state during winter.在冬天许多动物都处于睡眠状态。
• This dormant volcano suddenly fired up.这座休眠火山突然爆发了。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

5 swollen   

adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀

参考例句：

• Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
• A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

7 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

8 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

9 scapegoat   

n.替罪的羔羊，替人顶罪者；v.使…成为替罪羊

参考例句：

• He has been made a scapegoat for the company's failures.他成了公司倒闭的替罪羊。
• They ask me to join the party so that I'll be their scapegoat when trouble comes.他们想叫我入伙，出了乱子，好让我替他们垫背。

10 avid   

adj.热心的；贪婪的；渴望的；劲头十足的

参考例句：

• He is rich,but he is still avid of more money.他很富有,但他还想贪图更多的钱。
• She was avid for praise from her coach.那女孩渴望得到教练的称赞。