2006年VOA标准英语-International Experts Investigate Bird Flu

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
06 January 2006

 
People carry coffin¹ of 15-year-old Fatma Kocyigit for burial in her hometown, Dogubayazit, Jan. 5. 2006
  
The World Health Organization, WHO, says a team of international experts is investigating an outbreak of avian flu in a remote area of Turkey, where three children from one family have died and 25 people are being treated for possible bird flu symptoms.

--------------------------------------

A WHO spokeswoman, Fadela Chaib, says the U.N. health agency is quite worried because of the spread of the virus beyond East Asia.

"It is the first time we have avian flu outside East Asia," she said.  "We were worried about five countries in Asia, and now we have one country in Europe, Turkey. And, we are also worried about these clusters of cases. You know that the nightmare will be, if we have an epidemic².  It means, if avian flu is transmitted from a person to a person."

Ms. Chaib says there is no indication of human-to-human transmission of the virus among the children who died in Turkey. Turkish officials suspect the youngsters became sick because of close contact with chickens that were kept at home. 

Officials at the World Health Organization said Thursday preliminary tests indicate the first two siblings³ died of the H5N1 strain of the virus.

Since January 2004, 142 human cases of H5N1 infections, including 74 deaths, have been reported in Viet Nam, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia and China. 

Scientists fear that the deadly H5N1 virus in poultry⁴ could mutate into a form that could easily spread among humans.  They warn this could trigger a global pandemic with the potential for killing⁵ millions of people.

The five WHO specialists investigating the outbreak in Turkey include a virologist, epidemiologists, an infection control specialist and a public health official.  They will work with the Turkish Health Ministry⁶. 

Ms. Chaib says the experts will investigate the source of the virus and how it was transmitted to the children.

"One of the recommendations is to proceed quickly to the culling⁷ of all the chickens in the neighboring farms or villages, in order to try to break the chain of transmission between animals and humans," she added. 

Last year, the virus was detected among wild birds that migrated to Turkey and parts of southeast Europe.  These birds are believed to have infected domestic poultry.

1 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

2 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。

3 siblings   

n.兄弟，姐妹( sibling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A triplet sleeps amongst its two siblings. 一个三胞胎睡在其两个同胞之间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She has no way of tracking the donor or her half-siblings down. 她没办法找到那个捐精者或她的兄弟姐妹。 来自时文部分

4 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?

5 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。

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 culling   

n.选择，大批物品中剔出劣质货v.挑选，剔除( cull的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The mathematicians turned to culling periodic solutions. 数学家们转而去挑选周期解。 来自辞典例句
• It took us a week to find you, a week of culling out prejudice and hatred. 我们花了一个星期的时间找到你们，把偏见和憎恨剔除出去。 来自演讲部分