VOA慢速英语201 Ebola Is Top Health Story for 2014

 

Ebola Is Top Health Story for 2014

If asked, “What was the most important health story of 2014?” there would be little debate.

Ebola has killed more than 6,800 people and infected more than three times that number.

But this is not the first time the world has heard of Ebola. The virus spent many years in African forests far from human populations. Every ten years, or so, it would appear in small villages and kill a few hundred people.

But the Ebola outbreak that began in 2014 is very different than all that came before.

This time, Ebola is sickening thousands of people in West Africa. It crossed into cities and over national borders. The world reacted with shock and fear.

And Ebola continues to kill.

Tracking the steps of a killer¹

The Ebola outbreak began in rural Guinea a year ago. Months passed before health officials identified the virus. The disease spread to the capital and crossed into Sierra Leone and Liberia. By June, cases began to rise quickly in those two countries.  

Misunderstanding, miscommunication and fear also grew.

Some people resisted treatment and safe burials of their loved ones. People near the Liberian capital, Monrovia, rioted². Frightened people sometimes killed aid workers who had travelled to affected³ villages to help.

Governments answered the panic with lockdowns and quarantines. They put infected people in restricted communities.

But governments also increased education efforts. Health officials warned people to take safety guidelines⁴ seriously. Health workers walked the streets teaching people about the signs of Ebola. Today health workers continue to go door-to-door looking for possible cases.

How to fight a killer virus

To stop Ebola doctors must separate infected people from non-infected people. Health care workers must have special training to treat the sick. They must wear head-to-toe protective clothing. Sometimes, even those that follow these steps still get sick.

Doctor Kevin Brantly and aid worker Nancy Writebol are examples. They understood the risks and followed the safety measures. Yet, they became infected with the virus while working with Ebola patients in Liberia. The two health care professionals were taken to the U.S. for treatment. Each took the experimental drug called zMapp and recovered. ZMapp is made from tobacco plants.

Health care workers like Dr. Brantley and Ms. Writebol are most at risk. It is estimated that 350 such workers in West Africa have died from Ebola. Sierra Leone lost three doctors in the first half of December alone.

Ebola exposes broken health care systems

Ebola has shown the weaknesses in health care systems in the most affected countries. By September, hospitals had closed in Monrovia. There were not enough beds or workers at Ebola treatment centers.

People with other sicknesses who look for treatment are often exposed to Ebola patients.

VOA Learning English spoke⁵ to a doctor who got Ebola while working with HIV-AIDS patients in Liberia. Dr. Rick Sacra says a broken health care system is the biggest issue in Ebola-affected areas.

“So, we have a terrible situation right now in both Liberia and Sierra Leone where pregnant⁶ women who can’t deliver and need a C-section many of them have nowhere to go because the health facilities around them are closed. So, we need to remember this is not just about Ebola. There is a ripple⁷ effect into the health system as a whole.”  

Ebola is a life-changer

In Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, people no longer shake hands or hug. Physical contact has become too risky⁸.

People can no longer care for their sick or bury their dead in traditional ways. The bodily fluids of Ebola patients, as well as the Ebola dead, carry the virus.

Border health officials stop and check people traveling out of West Africa for signs of infection. Measuring body temperature has become common at airports and border crossings. Fever is one of the first signs of Ebola.

When will there be a cure or vaccine⁹?

French researchers are developing an Ebola test to provide results in 15 minutes. The current Ebola test takes 24 hours. Japan and the United States are also working on developing faster tests.

Lausanne's University Hospital in Switzerland began testing a possible Ebola vaccine in November in healthy volunteers. Experts say there is no danger of getting Ebola from the vaccine. If the vaccine proves effective, researchers will organize tests with larger groups.

Dr. Sacra adds that some treatments for Ebola are showing promise. He talks about “convalescent plasma,” using the blood of Ebola survivors¹⁰ to save those sick with the disease.

“It is exciting. They are now beginning clinical trials on a larger scale of both medications and this “convalescent plasma” to really prove whether they work or not.” 

Since recovering from Ebola Dr. Sacra says he is now immune¹¹ to the virus.

1 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

2 rioted   

暴动，闹事( riot的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• These people rolled in wealth and rioted in debauchery. 这些人钱财很多，过着荒淫的生活。
• The discontented crowd rioted. 不满的群众暴动起来。

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 guidelines   

n.指导方针，准则

参考例句：

• The government has drawn up guidelines on the treatment of the mentally ill. 政府制订了对待精神病人的指导方针。
• Planners seem a little uncomfortable with the current government guidelines. 规划师似乎不太接受现行的政府指道方针。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 pregnant   

adj.怀孕的，怀胎的

参考例句：

• She is a pregnant woman.她是一名孕妇。
• She is pregnant with her first child.她怀了第一胎。

7 ripple   

n.涟波，涟漪，波纹，粗钢梳；vt.使...起涟漪，使起波纹； vi.呈波浪状，起伏前进

参考例句：

• The pebble made a ripple on the surface of the lake.石子在湖面上激起一个涟漪。
• The small ripple split upon the beach.小小的涟漪卷来，碎在沙滩上。

8 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

9 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。

10 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

11 immune   

adj.免疫的，有免疫力的，不受影响的，免除的

参考例句：

• I am immune from the disease,for I had it once.我对这病有免疫力，因为我已得过一次了。
• Be immune from corruption.拒腐蚀，永不沾。