AGRICULTURE REPORT - China Says It Will Vaccinate All Farm B

AGRICULTURE REPORT - China Says It Will Vaccinate¹ All Farm Birds Against Bird Flu
By Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Tuesday, November 22, 2005

I'm Faith Lapidus with the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

China says it will give all of its farm birds a vaccine² to protect them against avian influenza³. The chief medical officer for animals first announced the development of the vaccine in late October. Jia Youling said the vaccine against the h-five-n-one bird flu virus is easy to use and not costly⁴.

Epidemic⁵ prevention worker, right, vaccinates⁶ a duck in Tancheng County, east China's Shandong Province
Last week the Chinese Agriculture Ministry⁷ announced that all farm birds would be vaccinated⁸. It did not give details, but it said the government would pay for the program. China also announced plans to send vaccine to Vietnam to deal with outbreaks there.

China has about five thousand million farm birds at any one time. But the yearly number of birds that will need to be vaccinated is much higher. This is because chickens, ducks and other poultry⁹ can be sent to market after only a few months. Reports say China uses about fourteen thousand million farm birds every year.

China has reported a number of recent outbreaks of bird flu. In early November, the World Organization for Animal Health received a report of a large outbreak in Liaoning Province. Workers destroyed two million five hundred thousand farm birds. Officials say nearly two million birds in the area were vaccinated.

Only healthy birds can be vaccinated.

People who work with farm birds are advised to keep clothing and shoes free of material and waste that could spread infection. Experts say clothes worn on a farm should stay on the farm. Farmers should also keep equipment, containers and tools clean. Soap left on a surface for ten minutes can work as a disinfectant.

Also, farmers must watch their birds for possible signs of the disease. Birds that appear weak or that drink an unusual amount of water could be sick. Bird flu can also cause sudden death.

Wild birds have carried the virus across Asia and into Europe. Once farm birds become infected, the disease spreads quickly. Health officials worry that the virus could begin to spread easily from person to person.

The World Health Organization says one hundred thirty cases were confirmed in humans as of November seventeenth. Sixty-seven of the people died. Vietnam has had the most cases. There have also been cases in Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia and China.

China last week reported its first two human cases of avian influenza. One of those people died.

This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Mario Ritter.  I'm Steve Ember.

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

5 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

6 vaccinates   

给…接种疫苗( vaccinate的第三人称单数 )； 注射疫苗，接种疫苗

参考例句：

• The coverage rates of BCG,DPT,measles and polio vaccinates are 99 42%,99 79%,99 26%,99 21%,respectively. 1995 年“四苗”单项接种率分别为BCG99.42% 、TOPV99.21% 、DPT99.79% 、MV99.26% , “四苗”全程率98.84% 。

7 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。

8 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

9 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?