VOA慢速英语20060802a

HEALTH REPORT - Study in Ferrets Shows H5N1 Virus Does Not Spread EasilyBy Caty Weaver¹

Broadcast: Wednesday, August 02, 2006

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

In recent days there have been two seemingly hopeful pieces of news about bird flu.

One involves a study by scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. They combined a human influenza² virus with the deadly H-five-N-one form of avian influenza.


Ferrets easily catch and spread human flu

The researchers wanted to see if this combination virus, or hybrid³, would spread easily among laboratory animals. They injected the virus into ferrets. These animals easily catch and spread human flu. But they do not easily catch the H-five-N-one virus -- which so far is also true of humans.

In the study, as expected, human flu viruses spread easily among the ferrets. But the researchers say the hybrid virus did not spread easily. They even passed a hybrid virus through a series of ferrets. But that did not result in genetic⁴ changes that would make the virus more aggressive.

One way for an animal virus to become able to pass easily from person to person is to combine with a human virus. Scientists say hybrids⁵ led to the flu pandemics of nineteen fifty-seven and 'sixteen-eight. But they believe the so-called Spanish flu of nineteen eighteen might have jumped directly from birds to humans after some genetic changes.

Julie Gerberding is director of the Centers for Disease Control. She says the new findings do not mean the H-five-N-one virus cannot change into a form easily passed between people. She says the findings suggest only that such a process is not simple. The research appeared this week in the Proceedings⁶ of the National Academy of Sciences.

Since two thousand three, the World Health Organization has recorded more than two hundred thirty human cases of the H-five-N-one virus. Almost sixty percent of those people have died.

Last week GlaxoSmithKline said it was hopeful about tests of a vaccine⁷ to protect against the virus. The British drug maker⁸ tested it in four hundred adults in Belgium.

GlaxoSmithKline says the vaccine requires only a very small amount of adjuvant. So the company could produce larger supplies. An adjuvant is a substance that helps a vaccine work better in the body.

GlaxoSmithKline says it could have the vaccine ready as early as next year. The company would need approval from governments. And the vaccine might be of little use if a different virus causes the next pandemic.

And that's the Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver. Read and listen to our reports at www.unsv.com. I'm Steve Ember.

1 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

2 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。

3 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

4 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

5 hybrids   

n.杂交生成的生物体( hybrid的名词复数 )；杂交植物（或动物）；杂种；（不同事物的）混合物

参考例句：

• All these brightly coloured hybrids are so lovely in the garden. 花园里所有这些色彩鲜艳的杂交花真美丽。 来自辞典例句
• The notion that interspecific hybrids are rare is ill-founded. 有一种看法认为种间杂种是罕见的，这种看法是无根据的。 来自辞典例句

6 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

7 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。

8 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。