VOA慢速英语2014 AS IT IS 2014-01-06 More Diseases Now Spreading from Animals to Humans 越来越多的动物疾病传播给人类

 

AS IT IS 2014-01-06 More Diseases Now Spreading from Animals to Humans 越来越多的动物疾病传播给人类

Hello, and welcome to As It Is from VOA Learning English.

I’m Christopher Cruise in Washington.

Today on the program, we report on efforts by doctors in Kenya to end trachoma, an infectious eye disease that causes blindness.

“When I decided¹ to go for the eye surgery, I was worried and uncomfortable.  I thought after the surgery I would not see again.  But now it’s the opposite -- I am confident, happy and I can do my work well.”

But first, we report on a warning from the United Nations that more diseases are now spreading from animals to humans.

“I think that if we continue the state of play, we’ll only see more diseases emerge, more natural resources disappear, and more threats to the human health into the food chain.”

Fighting the spread of diseases in Kenya and throughout the world -- that is today’s subject on As It Is.

FAO: Spread of Diseases from Animals to Humans Increasing

About 70 percent of the new diseases that have infected humans in recent years have come from animals.  The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization -- or FAO -- says more diseases are moving from animals to humans as the Earth’s population grows and the time and distance from when the food is harvested to when it is eaten increases.   

Caty Weaver² reports.

The FAO recently released a report called “World Livestock³ 2013: Changing Disease Landscapes.”

Juan Lubroth is the chief officer of animal medicine at the agency.

“I think that if we continue the state of play, we’ll only see more diseases emerge, more natural resources disappear, and more threats to the human health into the food chain.”

Dr. Lubroth says humans are coming in contact with new diseases as they explore more parts of the world.  

“We are encroaching into habitats that previously⁴ we as humans did not really know -- those ecological⁵ niches⁶ were occupied by other species, but we are invading them.”

Dr. Lubroth says poor healthcare and human waste systems increase the risk of disease -- especially in areas where people do not have much money.  And he says as the number of people on the planet increases, so does the number of livestock -- which causes problems.

“As we intensify⁷ livestock production, we have created, let’s say, a monoculture.  By using antibiotics⁸, for example, as growth promoters or antibiotics without the supervision⁹ of qualified¹⁰ personnel, we do allow for disease-resistant organisms to go throughout the herd¹¹ or throughout the community.  And this can, at the end, affect human health.”

Dr. Lubroth says some diseases that have moved from animals to humans have caused the deaths of millions of people.

“The origin of the human immunodeficiency virus -- HIV, which causes AIDS -- probably had its precursor¹² in something that we know today to be simian¹³ -- or monkey -- immunodeficiency virus.  And then even more recently, we have the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome¹⁴, which is caused by a corona¹⁵ virus -- which likely has an animal origin.  We are at the point in research which we still are trying to find out what origin that is.”

He says other diseases that have moved from animals to humans in the past five to ten years include the Nipah and Hendra viruses, which are usually found in bats.  And, of course, there is bird flu.

“Probably more familiar to your readers or listeners will be the H5N1 Avian influenza¹⁶, which in 2003 spread in Southeast Asia and by 2006 was present in over 60 countries and territories.”

The FAO is calling for groups of experts to work together to fight the growing disease threat.  Scientists, researchers, doctors and other experts from many different areas of science and medicine would work with one another and share any discoveries.

The FAO report says this approach could help reduce poverty and reduce biological threats caused by globalization and climate change.  It could also lead to better safety and health measures in livestock production.

I’m Caty Weaver.

You are listening to As It Is, a program designed to help you learn to speak, read and write American English.

Now once again here is Christopher Cruise, with a report on medical workers in Kenya who are trying to stop the spread of a disease that causes blindness…

Thanks Caty.

Kenyan Doctors Work to End Trachoma by 2020

Health care workers in Kenya say more than 60,000 people in the east African nation are living with trachoma.  The infectious eye disease causes blindness if it is not treated early.  VOA visited a Kenyan village where medical workers are trying to stop a spread of the disease.

Kajiado is a village in a rural area of southern Kenya. A local anti-trachoma worker teaches a group of women how to stop the disease and how to treat it.  Lester Mortai is well-known in this area for his work fighting trachoma.  He often travels through villages, teaching people the best ways to avoid getting the painful disease.

“Visit those homesteads and tell people to go to, to prevent diseases by having their own initiative, to have that facial cleanliness -- those without trachoma and even those with trachoma.”

Trachoma is caused by bacteria, and is spread by touching¹⁷ the infected eye or nose of a person who already has it.  In developing countries, flies often spread the disease.

The African Medical and Research Foundation -- or AMREF -- says more than 7,000 people in Kajiado suffer from trachoma.  People who have the disease suffer from painful swelling¹⁸ of the eyelid¹⁹ and scarring of the outer area of the eye -- called the cornea. 

Ngeyan Nge has a bad case of trachoma.  She will have surgery to keep her from going blind.

“I am hopeful about the future, even though in the beginning I was opposed to the surgery.  I’ve changed my mind after continuous advice from people.”

John Soine works for AMREF.  He travels to rural areas of Kenya to do surgery on people with severe cases of trachoma.

“So if these people with active infection are not treated, they end up developing complications whereby the eyelashes start facing inwards and start rubbing on the eyeball.  And at this stage one may lose vision.  And the loss of vision in trachoma is irreversible.”

Kadogo Salaash had almost lost her vision to the disease more than five years ago. Like Ngeyan Nge, she was at first not sure surgery could help her.

“When I decided to go for the eye surgery I was worried and uncomfortable. I thought after the surgery I would not see again.  But now it’s the opposite -- I’m confident, happy and can do my work well.”

With this kind of medical help -- and campaigns to educate people about trachoma in schools and in poorer communities -- Kenyan medical officials hope to greatly reduce the number of trachoma cases.  They hope they can end it throughout the country by 2020.

And that’s our program for today.  It was written in Special English from reports by Joe De Capua in Washington and Mohammed Yusuf in Kajaido, Kenya.

I’m Christopher Cruise reporting from VOA Learning English headquarters in Washington.

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 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。

3 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

4 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

5 ecological   

adj.生态的，生态学的

参考例句：

• The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
• Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.

6 niches   

壁龛( niche的名词复数 )； 合适的位置[工作等]； （产品的）商机； 生态位（一个生物所占据的生境的最小单位）

参考例句：

• Some larvae extend the galleries to form niches. 许多幼虫将坑道延伸扩大成壁龛。
• In his view differences in adaptation are insufficient to create niches commensurate in number and kind. 按照他的观点，适应的差异不足以在数量上和种类上形成同量的小生境。

7 intensify   

vt.加强；变强；加剧

参考例句：

• We must intensify our educational work among our own troops.我们必须加强自己部队的教育工作。
• They were ordered to intensify their patrols to protect our air space.他们奉命加强巡逻，保卫我国的领空。

8 antibiotics   

n.（用作复数）抗生素；（用作单数）抗生物质的研究；抗生素，抗菌素( antibiotic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the discovery of antibiotics in the 20th century 20世纪抗生素的发现
• The doctor gave me a prescription for antibiotics. 医生给我开了抗生素。

9 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

10 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

11 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

12 precursor   

n.先驱者；前辈；前任；预兆；先兆

参考例句：

• Error is often the precursor of what is correct.错误常常是正确的先导。
• He said that the deal should not be seen as a precursor to a merger.他说该笔交易不应该被看作是合并的前兆。

13 simian   

adj.似猿猴的；n.类人猿，猴

参考例句：

• Ada had a wrinkled,simian face.埃达有一张布满皱纹、长得像猿猴的脸。
• Curiosity is the taproot of an intellectual life,the most valuable of our simian traits.好奇是高智生命的根源，也是我们类人猿特征中最有价值的部分。

14 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

15 corona   

n.日冕

参考例句：

• The corona gains and loses energy continuously.日冕总是不断地获得能量和损失能量。
• The corona is a brilliant,pearly white,filmy light,about as bright as the full moon.光环带是一种灿烂的珠白色朦胧光，几乎像满月一样明亮。

16 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。

17 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

18 swelling   

n.肿胀

参考例句：

• Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
• There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。

19 eyelid   

n.眼睑，眼皮

参考例句：

• She lifted one eyelid to see what he was doing.她抬起一只眼皮看看他在做什么。
• My eyelid has been tumid since yesterday.从昨天起，我的眼皮就肿了。