2006年VOA标准英语-WHO: Avian Flu Rapidly Spreading in Birds

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
23 May 2006

Public Health Experts attending the World Health Assembly say the H5N1 virus in birds is rapidly spreading around the world. The World Health Organization urges nations to speed up their pandemic preparedness plans.

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The U.N. agency says there is greater chance now for the H5N1 virus to move into the human population because of the rapid spread of the virus from infected birds. 

 

David Navarro  
  

U.N. Coordinator¹ for Avian and Human Influenza² David Nabarro says it is not easy for humans to get infected. But, he warns this virus has the capacity to infect and cause disease in humans. "If this virus also develops the capacity to pass easily between humans then we have got something pretty terrible that is going to happen in our world and we will all need to move very rapidly to close it down. We are in this breathing space before it happens. We do not know how long that breathing space is going to be. But, if we are not all organizing ourselves to get ready and to take action to prepare for a pandemic, then we are squandering³ an opportunity for our human security," he said.

Latest World Health Organization figures put the known number of humans infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus at 217, with 123 deaths. Most of these cases and deaths have occurred in Asia. But, the disease has spread to Europe and the Middle East.

WHO Coordinator of Epidemic⁴ and Pandemic Alert and Response, Keiji Fukuda, says influenza pandemics occur at least a couple of times each century. "We are in a period in which the risk both elevated and more visible and this is because of the H5N1 virus. And, this is because this virus has the ability to persist and to spread and also to infect people. Now the WHO assessment⁵ at this period is that we remain at phase three. This is a period in which we may see examples of limited human-to-human transmission. But, we definitely have not seen sustained human-to-human transmission," he said.

Dr. Fukuda says WHO's early efforts in raising global awareness⁶ have been very successful. He notes one and one half years ago, a WHO survey found fewer than 50 countries had pandemic preparedness plans. Now, he says, more than 176 countries have either a draft or a completed national pandemic plan.

Egypt's Minister of Health, Mostafa El-Gabaly describes how even a developing country, with limited resources, can get control of the H5N1 virus if it responds immediately to the threat. He says after Egypt's first reported cases of H5N1 in birds and humans, his government sprang into action. It vaccinated⁷ tens of thousands of birds and culled⁹ those infected with the disease. "Training at the grassroots level, I think is the most important and most effective way of fighting this disease. Whether training people to cull⁸ birds. Whether training people to educate families. Whether training people to protect themselves from the dangers of the disease," he said.

The World Health Organization urges countries to strengthen their early warning systems, build national capacity to cope with a pandemic and strengthen global scientific research in vaccine¹⁰ development.

1 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

2 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。

3 squandering   

v.（指钱，财产等）浪费，乱花( squander的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• You're faced with ending it all, of squandering what was given. 把到手的东西就这样随随便便弄掉。 来自辞典例句
• I see all this potential And I see squandering. 你们的潜力都被浪费了。 来自互联网

4 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。

5 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

6 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

7 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？

8 cull   

v.拣选；剔除；n.拣出的东西；剔除

参考例句：

• It is usually good practice to cull the poorest prior to field planting.通常在实践上的好方法是在出圃栽植前挑出最弱的苗木。
• Laura was passing around photographs she'd culled from the albums at home.劳拉正在分发她从家里相册中挑选出的相片。

9 culled   

v.挑选，剔除( cull的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The herd must be culled. 必须有选择地杀掉部分牧畜。 来自辞典例句
• The facts were culled from various sources. 这些事实是从各方收集到的。 来自辞典例句

10 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。