DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Ebola in Africa

DEVELOPMENT REPORT
–
April 1, 2002: Ebola in Africa

By Jill Moss¹

Ebola virus
(Photo -cdc.gov)
This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

The World Health Organization reports fifty -four people have died of the Ebola virus in central Africa during the
last two months. The deaths have been in Gabon and the Republic of Congo.

The Ebola virus began spreading after victims were discovered in areas in northeastern
Gabon in November. It is the third time Ebola has spread through Gabon since Nineteen-
Ninety-Four. Health officials believe people moving across the border spread the disease²
from Gabon to Congo.

Ebola is highly³ infectious⁴ and kills up to eighty percent of its victims. Researchers do not
know the method by which the virus first appears in humans, but they believe it is
through infected animals. The disease then spreads from person to person through blood
and other body liquids.

Ebola victims treated early have the best chance of survival⁵. Signs of Ebola include a
high temperature, diarrhea, muscle pains and bleeding inside the body. In severe cases,
victims experience chest pains and death. There is no known cure for the disease, and no way yet to prevent it.

Scientists at the American National Institutes of Health are working to develop a vaccine⁶ to prevent Ebola.
Doctor Gary Nabel is leading the research effort at the N-I-H testing center in the eastern state of Maryland. He
says that during the past two years, the vaccine has been tested on small animals and monkeys for safety and
effectiveness.

In the most recent study, four monkeys who had been given the vaccine were completely protected from a deadly
injection⁷ of the Ebola virus. The study was described in November in Nature magazine. Doctor Nabel says the
tests appear to have moved scientists one step closer to a vaccine for humans.

The development of an effective vaccine is very important for central Africa. Earlier this year, an international
team of medical experts left northeastern Gabon after receiving threats from the local community.

The World Health Organization says the medical experts have not yet returned because local officials are not able
to guarantee their safety. This has made efforts to contain Ebola more difficult. The W-H-O can not declare this
latest spread of Ebola finished until two separate, twenty -one day periods pass without a new case of the disease
being reported.

This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss.

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1 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

2 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

3 highly   

adv.高度地，极，非常；非常赞许地

参考例句：

• It is highly important to provide for the future.预先做好准备非常重要。
• The teacher speaks very highly of the boy's behaviour.老师称赞这个男孩的表现。

4 infectious   

adj.传染的，有传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• Influenza is an infectious disease.流感是一种传染病。
• What an infectious laugh she has!她的笑声多么具有感染力啊！

5 survival   

n.留住生命，生存，残存，幸存者

参考例句：

• The doctor told my wife I had a fifty-fifty chance of survival.医生告诉我的妻子，说我活下去的可能性只有50%。
• The old man was a survival of a past age.这位老人是上一代的遗老。

6 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

7 injection   

n.注射，注入；注射液

参考例句：

• Those drugs are given by injection as well as through the mouth.那些药品可以注射，也可以口服。
• She pressed the patient a bit too hard when she gave him an injection.她打针时手重了些。