4-15 禽流感

The Bird Flu

 

Recently，the news has been filled with reports of the “bird flu.” Asia is on a region-wide health alert, with governments slaughtering² millions of chickens to contain¹ outbreaks of the bird flu in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, South Korea, Japan and China.

 

Influenza³² -- commonly called “flu” -- is one of the oldest and most common diseases known to man. It can also be one of the deadliest. The great “Spanish flu” pandemic³ of 1918~1919 was considered the worst plague in history, killing⁴ up to 40 million people with half of the world’s population infected in only a few months.

 

Influenza can also infect many different warm-blooded animals, such as birds. However, the “flu” virus usually develops different variants⁵ that are specialized⁶ for each species of animal that they infect. Cross species infections are rare.

 

A flu strain called influenza A (H5N1) appears to have made a successful jump from birds to humans. The viral strain was first isolated⁷ from South African birds in 1961.the fist known human infection occurred in a Hong Kong toddler in May of 1997. By the end of 1997, there were 13 confirmed cases and four deaths, all in Hong Kong. In an attempt to stop the spread of the disease, the government of Hong Kong ordered the slaughter¹ of all chickens, ducks, geese, quail⁸⁴, and domestic pigeons.

 

Humans infected with H5N1 so far are thought to have caught the disease from fowl⁹⁵ and no person-to-person transmissions have been reported. The WHO, however, fears that the bird flu is highly adaptable¹⁰ and might leap the species barrier. It says anyone exposed to the disease should be quarantined⁶ to avoid contact with sufferers of regular human influenza.

 

 

注释：

1.contain [kEn5tein] vt. 控制；遏制；阻止

2.influenza [5influ5enzE] n. [医] 流行性感冒，流感

3.pandemic [pAn5demik] n. 大流行病

4.quail [kweil] n. 鹌鹑

5.fowl [faul] n. [现仅用以构成复合词] 鸟；家禽

6.quarantine [5kwCrEnti:n] vt. （为防止传染病的流行而）将（人、畜、船等）隔离

 

禽流感

 

最近，新闻里充满了关于禽流感的报告，亚洲拉响了地区性的疾病预防警报。泰国、越南、柬埔寨、韩国、日本和中国政府下令宰杀了数百万只鸡，以遏制禽流感的蔓延。　

流行性感冒，俗称“流感”，是人类己知最古老、最常见的疾病之一，它同时也可能是最致命的一种疾病。1918年至1919年间“西班牙流感”的大爆发被认为是历史上最大的瘟疫，在短短几个月里导致了全世界一半的人口染病，多达4000万人死亡。

流感也可以感染许多不同种类的温血动物，例如鸟类。但是，流感病毒通常是针对不同种类的动物滋生出不同的变种病毒，跨物种传染的情况很少。

一种被称为甲型流感（H5N1）的病毒看来己经成功地从鸟类转移到了人类的身上。这种病毒1961年首次从南非的鸟类身上被分离出来。第一例己知的人类感染病例是1997年5月香港的一名幼儿。到1997年底，13起病例得到确诊，其中4人死亡，全都发生在香港。为了阻止该疾病的蔓延，香港政府下令杀了所有的鸡鸭鹅鹌鹑和家鸽。

至今为止人类感染H5N1的病例都被认为是从家禽传染的，人与人之间的传染尚无报告。但是，世界卫生组织担心禽流感病毒具有很强的适应能力，可能跨过物种的障碍传播，认为任何接触过该病的人应该隔离，避免与普通流感病人接触。

 

1 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

2 slaughtering   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The Revolutionary Tribunal went to work, and a steady slaughtering began. 革命法庭投入工作，持续不断的大屠杀开始了。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
• \"Isn't it terrific slaughtering pigs? “宰猪的！ 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

3 influenza   

n.流行性感冒，流感

参考例句：

• They took steps to prevent the spread of influenza.他们采取措施
• Influenza is an infectious disease.流感是一种传染病。

4 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

5 variants   

n.变体( variant的名词复数 )；变种；变型；（词等的）变体

参考例句：

• Those variants will be preserved in the'struggle for existence". 这些变异将在“生存竞争”中被保留下来。 来自辞典例句
• Like organisms, viruses have variants, generally called strains. 与其他生物一样，病毒也有变种，一般称之为株系。 来自辞典例句

6 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

7 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

8 quail   

n.鹌鹑；vi.畏惧，颤抖

参考例句：

• Cowards always quail before the enemy.在敌人面前，胆小鬼们总是畏缩不前的。
• Quail eggs are very high in cholesterol.鹌鹑蛋胆固醇含量高。

9 fowl   

n.家禽，鸡，禽肉

参考例句：

• Fowl is not part of a traditional brunch.禽肉不是传统的早午餐的一部分。
• Since my heart attack,I've eaten more fish and fowl and less red meat.自从我患了心脏病后，我就多吃鱼肉和禽肉，少吃红色肉类。

10 adaptable   

adj.能适应的，适应性强的，可改编的

参考例句：

• He is an adaptable man and will soon learn the new work.他是个适应性很强的人，很快就将学会这种工作。
• The soil is adaptable to the growth of peanuts.这土壤适宜于花生的生长。