AGRICULTURE REPORT - Bird Flu in Asia

AGRICULTURE REPORT - Bird Flu in Asia
By Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Tuesday, February 03, 2004

This is Bob Doughty¹ with the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

 
Graphic² Image
United Nations agencies are calling for money and technical help for countries in Asia to stop the spread of bird flu. The head of the U-N Food and Agriculture Organization says farmers should be paid for their losses.

Workers in ten countries have been killing³ millions of chickens and other birds. The World Health Organization says workers should wear eye protection to avoid the virus. They should also wear what is known as an n-ninety-five (N95) respirator mask. Health officials say another possibility is the kind of mask that doctors wear during operations.

Workers should also wear protective clothing that can be either treated to kill germs or thrown away after use. And they should wash their hands often. The W-H-O also suggests having antiviral drugs ready in case people get sick.

Thailand on Monday reported its third death from avian influenza⁴. And a ninth person died in Vietnam. Among the deaths in Vietnam were two sisters not known to have been near infected birds. The W-H-O said "one possible explanation" was that they got the virus from their brother.

Health officials fear that bird flu could change into a form that spreads person-to-person worldwide. It could combine with human flu if someone gets both viruses. Or it may pass to humans through pigs. Yet the W-H-O says the limited number of human infections to date is a good sign.

The United States Agriculture Department had expected world chicken production to increase by six percent this year. The Foreign Agriculture Service there estimated that production would be greater than demand.

The industry in Thailand has grown quickly. Last week, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra confirmed that the virus had entered his country. He said Thailand had not done a good job at first. But he said it would move quickly to control the disease. Thailand is the fourth largest exporter of chicken.

The United States is the largest. Next are Brazil, the European Union, Thailand and China.

China last week reported its first cases of bird flu. But the British magazine New Scientist reported that the current outbreak in Asia began months ago in southern China. The report suggested that efforts to prevent the flu had caused it. China started to vaccinate⁵ chickens after the nineteen-ninety-seven outbreak in Hong Kong.

The Foreign Ministry⁶ dismissed the report. A Chinese agricultural official called it "purely⁷ a guess."

This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Mario Ritter. This is Bob Doughty.

1 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

2 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 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。

5 vaccinate   

vt.给…接种疫苗；种牛痘

参考例句：

• Local health officials then can plan the best times to vaccinate people.这样，当地的卫生官员就可以安排最佳时间给人们接种疫苗。
• Doctors vaccinate us so that we do not catch smallpox.医生给我们打预防针使我们不会得天花。

6 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。

7 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。