VOA常速英语2007-Demand for Animal Products May Double in 20 year

By Zulima Palacio
Washington
16 October 2007
 

As the world's population grows, the need to ensure food safety from farms to fork has become a major international concern, with most of the attention focused on livestock¹. Producer Zulima Palacio talked to some of the world authorities in this field.  Mil Arcega narrates² the story.

The world's population is growing at a tremendous pace - adding about 78 million people a year. United Nations estimates show that by the year 2030 more than eight billion people will inhabit the Earth, straining the world's ability to feed itself.

Bernard Vallat is the director of the World Organization for Animal Health, or OIE [for Office International des Epizooties] describes the operation. "We know that we have in the coming 10 years, one billion additional meat consumers in China, India and other emerging countries" he said.

"In the following two decades the demand for animal products is going to double and so the supply is going to follow the demand and because of all kind of constraints³, this supply of animal products is going to come from developing countries,” said Francois Le Gall⁴.

Le Gall, of the World Bank agrees with Vallat's assessment⁵ that only 40 out of about 200 countries in the world have the capacity to respond to a health crisis that originates from animal disease.

Two diseases in particular  - mad cow and avian flu - have had devastating⁶ effects in the last 20 years. Mad cow disease first emerged among cattle in Britain in the mid⁷ 1980s, and since then has appeared in other European countries, North America and Asia. It has forced the destruction of large herds⁸, caused huge economic losses and the deaths of about 150 people.

Avian flu, also known as the H5N1 virus, first appeared in 2003, and has forced the slaughter⁹ of about 100 million birds in Asia, especially in Vietnam.  The human and economic losses have been devastating.

"This is not a new situation, diseases that are coming from animals to humans - it's happened since beginning of humanity.  But the reason for the new trends now is the globalization, climate change, mobility¹⁰ of the population, the globalization of animal products, etceteras.  Every year we have a new disease and 75 percent of these diseases are of animal origin." Le Gall added.

Le Gall says globalization has enhanced the probability of having pandemics. Other illnesses such as West Nile virus, bluetongue and foot and mouth disease are some recent examples of highly contagious¹¹ animal illnesses that can travel around the globe just as fast as humans do.   

In order to keep their livestock healthy, producers have embraced the regular use of antibiotics¹².

Bernard Vallat from OIE says the use of antibiotics can be dangerous if they are not carefully controlled by veterinarians.  But he says thousands of tons of antibiotics are used worldwide every year. "If antibiotics are used as sweets [like candy] - without control - this is dangerous, because bacteria in animals can become resistant¹³ and then infect humans."

The population pressure for the fast and massive production of animal products has also forced livestock production into higher density¹⁴, with fewer but more productive animal breeds.

Anni McLeod of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says genetic¹⁵ diversity may be needed in the future. "In poultry¹⁶ for example, there are about three or four companies that control most of the poultry breeds in the world and there are very, very few breeds that make up the genetic stock of all the commercial poultry that we have" McLeod said.

There are no global estimates for environmental, social and economic losses due to illnesses of animals raised for human consumption.  McLeod suggests thinking of a very large number and adding several zeros.

McLeod adds, "Almost any estimate we come out with is going to be like an iceberg¹⁷, and the part that affects really poor people would be the piece under water, that you don't know about."

McLeod and others agree that if nothing is done to prevent diseases in livestock for human consumption the world could face a major crisis in the next 10 years.

"I wouldn't call Avian influenza¹⁸ in any way positive, but perhaps one thing it has enabled us to do is to highlight the fact that investment is going to be needed for a long time" McLeod said.

The international community is mobilizing to meet the challenge. The World Bank, the U.N. and the World Organization for Animal Health or OIE are all working together on several levels regarding food safety, veterinarian services, packing and transportation.

1 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

2 narrates   

v.故事( narrate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• It narrates the unconstitutional acts of James II. 它历数了詹姆斯二世的违法行为。 来自辞典例句
• Chapter three narrates the economy activity which Jew return the Occident. 第三章讲述了犹太人重返西欧后的经济活动。 来自互联网

3 constraints   

强制( constraint的名词复数 )； 限制； 约束

参考例句：

• Data and constraints can easily be changed to test theories. 信息库中的数据和限制条件可以轻易地改变以检验假设。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• What are the constraints that each of these imply for any design? 这每种产品的要求和约束对于设计意味着什么？ 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

4 gall   

v.使烦恼，使焦躁，难堪；n.磨难

参考例句：

• It galled him to have to ask for a loan.必须向人借钱使他感到难堪。
• No gall,no glory.没有磨难，何来荣耀。

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 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

7 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

8 herds   

兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众

参考例句：

• Regularly at daybreak they drive their herds to the pasture. 每天天一亮他们就把牲畜赶到草场上去。
• There we saw herds of cows grazing on the pasture. 我们在那里看到一群群的牛在草地上吃草。

9 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。

10 mobility   

n.可动性，变动性，情感不定

参考例句：

• The difference in regional house prices acts as an obstacle to mobility of labour.不同地区房价的差异阻碍了劳动力的流动。
• Mobility is very important in guerrilla warfare.机动性在游击战中至关重要。

11 contagious   

adj.传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
• He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。

12 antibiotics   

n.（用作复数）抗生素；（用作单数）抗生物质的研究；抗生素，抗菌素( antibiotic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the discovery of antibiotics in the 20th century 20世纪抗生素的发现
• The doctor gave me a prescription for antibiotics. 医生给我开了抗生素。

13 resistant   

adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的

参考例句：

• Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
• They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。

14 density   

n.密集，密度，浓度

参考例句：

• The population density of that country is 685 per square mile.那个国家的人口密度为每平方英里685人。
• The region has a very high population density.该地区的人口密度很高。

15 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

16 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?

17 iceberg   

n.冰山，流冰，冷冰冰的人

参考例句：

• The ship hit an iceberg and went under.船撞上一座冰山而沉没了。
• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。

18 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。