2007年VOA标准英语-Medics Struggle to Limit DRC Ebola Outbreak

By Selah Hennessy
Dakar
21 September 2007

A suspected Ebola death has been reported in another province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, raising fears that the virus may be spreading. But the World Health Organization says that with new mobile laboratories in the country and an effective awareness¹ campaign taking place, isolating² Ebola cases should now become easier. Selah Hennessy reports from the VOA West and Central Africa bureau in Dakar.

Doctors are currently testing samples from a suspected Ebola victim in East Kasai, a province that neighbors West Kasai, where all previous cases had been identified.

In the past week, a number of suspected cases have also been reported in the capital of West Kasai-outside the outbreak's original rural confines.

"We have about 400 suspected cases, but actually this is a number that is changing everyday," said Christiana Salvi, a spokeswoman for the United Nations World Health Organization, based in Kinshasa..

So far over 170 people have died in the southern province due to strange illness since April, though only nine have been confirmed Ebola cases.

Salvi says there are several diseases ravaging³ the region simultaneously⁴; including typhoid, which she says has killed five people, and shigella. She says this can make it difficult to identify and isolate⁵ the Ebola cases.

"At the beginning that was not very easy for logistic reasons because all the samples had to be sent to external labs, including in Gabon and in Atlanta," she explained.  "But now through these mobile labs, which are being installed in the field we will be able to have a rapid diagnosis⁶. "

She says two high-tech⁷ mobile laboratories have been sent from Canada, which means that samples can be tested in two to six hours and Ebola victims can be quickly isolated⁸.

She says a second crucial factor in limiting the spread of the disease is educating the population.

"What is being done is basically to develop messages to the population on how to avoid the risk of transmission, but also on how to recognize cases, to identify suspect cases and to report to the local health authorities," she added.

She says Congo's health ministry⁹, with support from international organizations, has been distributing leaflets and airing radio and television programs about the virus.

But Salvi says health teams are still a long way from bringing the situation under control.

"We will be able to say that this outbreak is controlled when we have all suspect cases tested, when we follow up all their contacts, and when we have all the cases isolated.  And after that we need to check two incubation periods," she noted¹⁰.

Each incubation period lasts 21 days.

Ebola is a highly infectious disease, which can be spread through direct contact with the blood, body fluids, or body tissue of an infected person.

There is no known cure for the virus, which is fatal in between 50 and 90 percent of cases.

An Ebola outbreak that struck Congo in 1995 left 250 people dead.

1 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。

2 isolating   

adj.孤立的，绝缘的v.使隔离( isolate的现在分词 )；将…剔出（以便看清和单独处理）；使（某物质、细胞等）分离；使离析

参考例句：

• Colour filters are not very effective in isolating narrow spectral bands. 一些滤色片不能很有效地分离狭窄的光谱带。 来自辞典例句
• This became known as the streak method for isolating bacteria. 这个方法以后就称为分离细菌的划线法。 来自辞典例句

3 ravaging   

毁坏( ravage的现在分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫

参考例句：

• It is believed that in fatigue there is a repeated process of ravaging the material. 据认为，在疲劳中，有一个使材料毁坏的重复过程。
• I was able to capture the lion that was ravaging through town. 我能逮住正在城里肆虐的那头狮子。

4 simultaneously   

adv.同时发生地，同时进行地

参考例句：

• The radar beam can track a number of targets almost simultaneously.雷达波几乎可以同时追着多个目标。
• The Windows allow a computer user to execute multiple programs simultaneously.Windows允许计算机用户同时运行多个程序。

5 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。

6 diagnosis   

n.诊断，诊断结果，调查分析，判断

参考例句：

• His symptoms gave no obvious pointer to a possible diagnosis.他的症状无法作出明确的诊断。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做一次彻底的调查分析。

7 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

8 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。

9 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。

10 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。