2006年VOA标准英语-Indonesia Confirms 42nd Bird Flu Fatality

By Chad Bouchard
Jakarta
20 July 2006
 

A worker carries chickens to be delivered to markets at a farm in Jakarta, July 20, 2006  
  
Health officials in Indonesia confirmed on Thursday that a 44-year-old man died of avian influenza¹ just outside Jakarta last week. That brings the country's total number of bird flu deaths to 42, equaling Vietnam for the highest number of victims in the world.

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Indonesia has been struggling to contain the spread of the H5N1 virus since the first human case in South Sulawesi just over a year ago.

Though the latest fatality² ties the country with Vietnam for the highest number of human deaths, Vietnam has not registered a single death from the bird flu this year. Health officials credit Vietnam's extensive campaign of poultry³ vaccinations⁴ and mass slaughter⁵ of sick birds for that success.

In Indonesia, the virus has been detected in poultry in 27 of the country's 33 provinces.

World Health Organization spokeswoman Sari Setiogi says Indonesia's early detection and surveillance of the disease has been very good, but educating the public about the threat is a challenge. She says people in Indonesia live closely with poultry, even in urban areas. An estimated 300 million chickens are raised in backyards.

"I mean they put backyard chickens for example at night inside the house instead of in a pen or something like that. For them it's something very usual. So we have to again and again remind them that the public should avoid contact with sick or dead poultry," said Setiogi.

Critics say Indonesia has been slow to implement⁶ strategies to curb⁷ infection among birds, and has been particularly reluctant to slaughter poultry because of the high cost of compensating⁸ farmers. Mass culling⁹ is widely unpopular. The country has allocated¹⁰ $3.3 million to pay farmers for the birds, but that works out at little more than a dollar per chicken, significantly less than the market value.

Scientists fear the H5N1 virus could change to become easily passed between humans, triggering a pandemic that would put millions of lives at risk. So far, almost all human victims contracted the virus from sick birds.

Health officials recently said the H5N1 virus had mutated slightly in a cluster of cases in Sumatra last May, in which the virus passed from human-to-human, though experts say the mutation¹¹ died out with its last victim. WHO spokeswoman Setiogi says preventing a pandemic requires a global effort.

"If the virus is in animals, it means it could spill over into humans, however a pandemic strain could emerge anywhere, not just in Indonesia," she said.

The country has asked for $900 million from international donors¹² over the next three years to help fight the disease.

More than 130 people have died from the virus since 2003, with cases in Europe, Africa and Asia.

1 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。

2 fatality   

n.不幸，灾祸，天命

参考例句：

• She struggle against fatality in vain.她徒然奋斗反抗宿命。
• He began to have a growing sense of fatality.他开始有一种越来越强烈的宿命感。

3 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?

4 vaccinations   

n.种痘，接种( vaccination的名词复数 )；牛痘疤

参考例句：

• Vaccinations ensure one against diseases. 接种疫苗可以预防疾病。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I read some publicity about vaccinations while waiting my turn at the doctor's. 在医生那儿候诊时，我读了一些关于接种疫苗的宣传。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

6 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

7 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

8 compensating   

补偿，补助，修正

参考例句：

• I am able to set up compensating networks of nerve connections. 我能建立起补偿性的神经联系网。
• It is desirable that compensating cables be run in earthed conduit. 补偿导线最好在地下管道中穿过。

9 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

10 allocated   

adj. 分配的 动词allocate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The Ford Foundation allocated millions of dollars for cancer research. 福特基金会拨款数百万美元用于癌症研究。
• More funds will now be allocated to charitable organizations. 现在会拨更多的资金给慈善组织。

11 mutation   

n.变化，变异，转变

参考例句：

• People who have this mutation need less sleep than others.有这种突变的人需要的睡眠比其他人少。
• So far the discussion has centered entirely around mutation in the strict sense.到目前为止，严格来讲，讨论完全集中于围绕突变问题上。

12 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》