VOA慢速英语2015--韩国MERS患者人数增加

AS IT IS 2015-06-04 MERS Cases Rising in South Korea

South Korean health officials have confirmed the country’s first two deaths from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome¹. Officials reported Wednesday that the disease, known as MERS, has infected 30 people nationwide.  

The South Korean Ministry² of Health says the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome was linked to two deaths on Monday.

The victims were a 71-year-old man and a 58-year-old woman who died of acute respiratory failure. Acute respiratory infection prevents the body from getting oxygen and can result in death. Tests showed both patients were infected with the MERS virus before they died.

Different levels of exposure

South Korean officials also reported on the growing number of MERS patients. They said two of the newest patients were infected differently than the others. These two are apparently³ the first in South Korea to become infected by what officials called “third level exposures.”

Until now, all of the infected patients had direct contact with the first person known to have MERS in South Korea. This makes these patients “second level exposures.” All the patients in South Korea have been numbered and their exposure recorded.

A man named Kwon Jun-wook is the director of South Korea’s MERS management team within the Ministry of Health And Welfare. He says the person known as Patient 1 was a 68-year-old Korean man. He became infected in May after returning to Seoul from a trip to Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. But Mr. Kwon says the two new cases have been linked -- not to Patient 1 -- but to Patient 16.

Quarantines, travel bans and other precautions

Mr. Kwon says it appears the virus has been contained. He said all of the cases identified within the past few days have come from those who were already quarantined. They were forced to live apart from others, after being exposed to an infected person.

Mr. Kwon adds the South Korea government is now in the process of barring travel by anyone exposed to the virus.

VOA reporter’s in Seoul says most people do not appear to be taking steps to guard against MERS. He says South Korean workers and other people are going about their normal activities.

However, the country’s tourism industry may be affected⁴. The Korea Tourism Organization estimates that about 2,000 Chinese and 500 Taiwanese have canceled trips to South Korea. Tour operators expect more cancelations if more cases of MERS are reported.

One visitor from the United Kingdom, a woman named Leanne Creasey, says the risk of getting MERS in Seoul is not nearly as great as the media is making it seem.

“I don’t think there have been that many cases of it here. And I don’t feel like just because there is a lot of media coverage⁵ or something, that I should necessarily believe that it is going to be that dangerous.”

Besides tourism, schools have also been affected. The Ministry of Education has canceled classes in more than 200 schools. Most of those schools are in or near the area where a woman died from the virus on Monday.   

Protecting yourself from MERS

Kim Woo-joo is a professor of infectious diseases at Korea University. He is working with the government to contain the spread of the disease. He says wearing a mask over your face, washing hands repeatedly and covering your mouth when coughing should be enough to prevent infection.

The MERS outbreak in South Korea is the largest outside of the Middle East. There is also one reported case in China. The patient there is a Korean businessman who was reportedly exposed to Patient 1 in Seoul. He then traveled to China through Hong Kong before he was found to be infected.

MERS backgrounder

The MERS virus can produce symptoms, or warning signs, like those of another virus, influenza⁶. The symptoms can include higher than normal body temperature and coughing. These symptoms can progress to pneumonia⁷ and kidney failure. There is no known cure or vaccine⁸ for MERS. Over 40 percent of people infected die from the disease.

The MERS virus was discovered in Saudi Arabia in 2012. The World Health Organization says the virus likely came from camels in the Middle East.

It is unclear how MERS passes from the animals to human beings. But the virus spreads between humans by coughing and by direct contact with fluids from infected people.

MERS is related to the common cold and SARS, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. Ten years ago, a SARS outbreak in China, mainly in Hong Kong, infected over 8,000 people and killed nearly 800. The World Health Organization says there have been over 1,000 MERS cases worldwide, with at least 400 related deaths.

Words in This Story

quarantine – v. to keep (a person or animal) away from others to prevent a disease from spreading : n. the situation of being kept away from others to prevent a disease from spreading

acute – adj. very serious or dangerous : requiring serious attention or action

respiration⁹ – n. medical : the act or process of breathing : respiratory is the adjective

exposure(s) – n. the condition of being affected by someone or something; expose – v. to be affected by someone or something

1 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。

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

4 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。

5 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

6 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。

7 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

8 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。

9 respiration   

n.呼吸作用；一次呼吸；植物光合作用

参考例句：

• They tried artificial respiration but it was of no avail.他们试做人工呼吸，可是无效。
• They made frequent checks on his respiration,pulse and blood.他们经常检查他的呼吸、脉搏和血液。