2006年VOA标准英语-Southeast Asian Nations Step Up Bird Flu Assist

By Ron Corben
Bangkok
13 July 2006

Five Southeast Asia nations are stepping up cooperation to fight bird flu. Under their agreement, Thailand and Vietnam will share their expertise¹ in containing flu outbreaks through training programs and mobile laboratories to improve detection.

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U.S. State Department's top bird flu official John Lange, left, and an unidentified U.S. official check chickens at a farm near Danang, Vietnam   
  
More than 130 people have died from the H5N1 avian virus in the past three years, most of them in Southeast Asia.

Vietnam has recorded 42 human deaths, making it one of the hardest hit countries. Thailand has had 14 fatalities². However, they have reported no human cases so far this year.

Flu experts say that record is the result of new surveillance programs and education campaigns in both countries. These are relatively³ low-cost and effective ways of teaching farmers how to prevent bird flu and how to spot outbreaks quickly.

Peter Cordingley, a World Health Organization (WHO) spokesman, says these programs show what developing countries can do to fight avian flu.

"Thailand have pretty well mastered the situation at home although not complete control, but they're doing very, very well. Vietnam is doing relatively well. These countries have developed the expertise are now beginning to help countries that don't have the resources," he noted⁴.

The H5N1 virus is most deadly to poultry⁵, it has killed or led to the culling⁶ of tens of millions of chickens, ducks and geese on three continents since it reappeared in Southeast Asia in 2003. Most human victims contracted the virus from sick birds. However, international experts fear the virus will mutate and begin to spread easily among humans, which could lead to a pandemic that would kill millions of people.

To protect their people and their poultry industries, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, Laos and Cambodia have agreed to raise their cooperation in the fight against avian flu.

The agreement hopes to build on the experience of Thailand and Vietnam.

This may be crucial for Laos, Burma and Cambodia - three of the poorest and least developed countries in Asia. International experts, including from the WHO, have warned they are the least prepared to fight bird flu. And, since the five countries share borders, containing the virus in one will be key to containing it throughout Southeast Asia.

Cordingley says Cambodia and Laos in particular need support.

"Laos is an example of a country that is struggling," he added.  "Cambodia needs a lot of help as well. So we're looking to see a much higher level of information exchange and assistance."

Virachai Plasai is a director general of international economic affairs with Thailand's Foreign Ministry⁷. He says the five countries' bird flu strategy concentrates on small communities.

"We focus on how we respond to any possible outbreak based on surveillance, community-based methods, village volunteer system, but also early detection through setting up of mobile laboratories and subsequently national laboratories," he noted.

Under the regional agreement, Thailand will train people from Laos, Cambodia and Burma on how to create village volunteer systems to find bird flu outbreaks and will help them provide "transparent⁸ and updated" information to all the countries. Virachai says this particularly is crucial if the prevention program is to succeed.

So far, Laos has reported no human deaths from the virus, although in 2004, there was a modest outbreak among poultry.

The U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization representative in Laos, Leena Kirjavainen, says since then the international community has built up surveillance programs in Laos and animal health facilities.

For instance, the United States has given $1.5 million to teach Lao farmers to report sick birds and warn them not to eat birds that die of illness. Many human victims have contracted H5N1 by handling and eating sick birds.

Despite the international support, Kirjavainen says serious challenges remain. The first problem is that most farmers in Laos, like millions across Southeast Asia, let chickens and ducks wander freely around their homes. That increases the risk the birds will catch the virus and spread it to humans.

"It's free range and it's very much household backyard production," she said.  "And poultry production - it's mainly women and children who take care of the backyard poultry and so their awareness⁹ building and understanding what to do is critical."

The next problem is the sheer difficulty of travel in many parts of Laos, which has poor roads and communications systems.

"We have had cases in the northern part when we have sent a team," she added.  "You have to drive first with the car maybe a couple of days and then you go by boat, and the rest of the way by walking to the villages. It is a big challenge."

And, she says, once investigators¹⁰ get to isolated¹¹ areas, it takes days to get tissue samples back to a laboratory to determine whether birds died of flu or other diseases.

Experts say it is crucial to get new systems in place in Laos, as well as Cambodia and Burma soon. The peak flu season comes at the end of the year, when the weather cools, and having the right tools now could well prevent serious outbreaks then.

1 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

2 fatalities   

n.恶性事故( fatality的名词复数 )；死亡；致命性；命运

参考例句：

• Several people were injured, but there were no fatalities. 有几个人受伤，但没有人死亡。
• The accident resulted in fatalities. 那宗意外道致多人死亡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 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?

6 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

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 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

9 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。

10 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。