2007年VOA标准英语-New Bird Flu Outbreak Confirmed in Northern Nig

By Gilbert da Costa
Abuja
24 May 2007

Health officials in Nigeria have confirmed an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus in another northern state. Gilbert da Costa has more for VOA from Abuja.

Fowl1 vendors2 wait for buyers in a fowl market in Lagos, Nigeria, 06 February 2007" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070607/0908260.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

Fowl vendors wait for buyers in a fowl market in Lagos, Nigeria, 06 Feb 2007

A spokesman for the Zamfara state ministry³ of health in northern Nigeria, Aminu Abdulrazak, told reporters that tests on birds showing signs of the H5N1 bird flu confirmed the outbreak.

He said more than 200 birds have so far been culled⁴ at an infected farm in Namafara village to minimize the spread of the disease.

The first confirmed case of bird flu in Nigeria was reported in February last year.  The deadly virus subsequently spread to other parts of the country.

Zamfara now joins the long list of Nigerian states that have reported outbreaks since last year.

Experts fear this is another sign that the virus may be spreading among poultry⁵ farms in Nigeria.

Nigeria Veterinary Association President Garba Sharabutu blames a weak monitoring system and the influx⁶ of unqualified animal health personnel for the persistence⁷ of avian flu in Nigeria.

"Up till now, the populace has not come to terms with the issue of movement of birds," he said.  "And the second thing is that, we are also trying to caution members of our profession and the quack⁸ doctors that move about, because by the time people engage people who do not know the implication of moving from one farm to another without taking necessary precautions, it is possible to have these [new infections]."

The Department of Veterinary Research says about 1 million birds have died since the bird flu outbreak of February last year.

Dr. Sharabutu says Nigeria will have an idea of the extent of bird flu infections soon, when officials finish analyzing⁹ results from a nationwide surveillance project. 

"People were sent to the various states of the federation¹⁰ and we undertook surveillance, " said Dr. Sharabutu.  "So in the next month it is possible that we will be able to know the real status of the disease in all parts of the federation from the samples that we had gone around to collect."

Nigeria, Africa's most populous¹¹ nation with some 150 million people, reported West Africa's first human death from bird flu early last year.  It is the only country in the region to report a human death from the disease.

The World Health Organization says bird flu has killed 185 people since late 2003, most of them in Asia.

1 fowl   

n.家禽，鸡，禽肉

参考例句：

• Fowl is not part of a traditional brunch.禽肉不是传统的早午餐的一部分。
• Since my heart attack,I've eaten more fish and fowl and less red meat.自从我患了心脏病后，我就多吃鱼肉和禽肉，少吃红色肉类。

2 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

3 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。

4 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

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 influx   

n.流入，注入

参考例句：

• The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
• Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施，因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。

7 persistence   

n.坚持，持续，存留

参考例句：

• The persistence of a cough in his daughter puzzled him.他女儿持续的咳嗽把他难住了。
• He achieved success through dogged persistence.他靠着坚持不懈取得了成功。

8 quack   

n.庸医；江湖医生；冒充内行的人；骗子

参考例句：

• He describes himself as a doctor,but I feel he is a quack.他自称是医生，可是我感觉他是个江湖骗子。
• The quack was stormed with questions.江湖骗子受到了猛烈的质问。

9 analyzing   

v.分析；分析( analyze的现在分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析n.分析

参考例句：

• Analyzing the date of some socialist countries presents even greater problem s. 分析某些社会主义国家的统计数据，暴露出的问题甚至更大。 来自辞典例句
• He undoubtedly was not far off the mark in analyzing its predictions. 当然，他对其预测所作的分析倒也八九不离十。 来自辞典例句

10 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

11 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。