VOA常速英语2008年-Liberia's Only Veterinarian Wages Lonely Preven

By Nico Colombant
Careysburg, Liberia
05 March 2008

Liberia has just one veterinarian. As part of his many government duties, the veterinarian, who is also director of livestock² resources, helps prevent bird flu, following outbreaks in nearby countries. As VOA's Nico Colombant reports from Careysburg, he often fights a lonely battle.

"They did not leave the inside key with me," the guard says.

"Oh! You don't have the key to the back door? Nothing? " asks Kpadeh Koikoi.

"No," The guard responds.

Koikoi expresses surprise when he finds himself locked out of the country's sole veterinary diagnostic lab.

The only other employee here is a man cutting grass. Liberia's only lab technician is absent, as are his usual assistants.

Still, Moscow-trained Koikoi proudly gives a brief outside tour of the lab.

"As you see, here you have the generator³, which has just been installed to serve the lab," he explains. "Because as a lab, we need 24 hours of current. And, as you may know, since the onset⁴ of the war, the whole country is in darkness. We do not have electricity."

Koikoi says Liberia has yet to have a case of bird flu, but it is important to have a lab for testing purposes, since the similar, poultry⁵-affecting Newcastle's disease is quite prevalent.

"The Newcastle disease is very similar to avian influenza⁶," he notes. "The only differentiation⁷ you can make is in the lab. But the symptoms they look very similar. There are only two differences. One [is] the length of the disease. Second [is from the] laboratory test. Newcastle disease is lengthier⁸, one to two weeks, before the chicken can die. For avian influenza, it is a matter of hours."

Chicken are being fed in the biggest nearby farm, known as Wulki Farms.

Manager Roland Beyan says many smaller farms fail to take necessary precautions.

"Poultry health is difficult, because one disease can carry you and the whole flock can just die," he says. "So I advise that , if you get into such a thing, you should have an idea. Sometimes, you get the money to do [things], but you do not have the technical know-how⁹. But you can consult someone who has an idea and they will guide you."

On the Kakata highway between Careysburg and his Monrovia agriculture ministry¹⁰ offices, Koikoi stops below a sign advising people not to sleep with their poultry. Farmers living right next to the sign had not even seen it.

But Koikoi say it is important advice.

"Because of the war, the crime rate has gone high," he says. "In the countryside, the poultry owners decided¹¹ to sleep with the poultry in the same house. We advised them not to do it, because in case of an outbreak of avian influenza, they will be contaminated through the air."

The H5N1 strain of bird flu can contaminate and kill humans. Further north, Egyptian officials say there have been 19 H5N1 deaths in the past two years.

During regional workshops in Liberia, Koikoi gives plenty advice to avoid such a scenario¹² in his own country. For example, he tells customs officers not to allow chicken to cross the border from Ivory Coast, where bird flu has been detected, or he explains how to handle dead chicken with plastic bags.

"When they put their hand in the plastic bag, they should hold the dead chicken and bury it when they have already dug the hole, bury it, and bury with the plastic. They should not touch it," he explains. "During my last trip, I met with a lady, and she had a seminar, a workshop she attended, and she could still remember these rules. So I felt very happy that our message was going through."

The anti bird-flu sign on the road to Monrovia also has hotline numbers for reporting any problems with poultry, but unfortunately Koikoi says the numbers are not answered any more. He says, as the country's only vet¹, with only one pickup¹³ truck at his disposal, he faces challenges alone.

1 vet   

n.兽医，退役军人；vt.检查

参考例句：

• I took my dog to the vet.我把狗带到兽医诊所看病。
• Someone should vet this report before it goes out.这篇报道发表之前应该有人对它进行详查。

2 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。

3 generator   

n.发电机，发生器

参考例句：

• All the while the giant generator poured out its power.巨大的发电机一刻不停地发出电力。
• This is an alternating current generator.这是一台交流发电机。

4 onset   

n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始

参考例句：

• The drug must be taken from the onset of the infection.这种药必须在感染的最初期就开始服用。
• Our troops withstood the onset of the enemy.我们的部队抵挡住了敌人的进攻。

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 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。

7 differentiation   

n.区别，区分

参考例句：

• There can be no differentiation without contrast. 有比较才有差别。
• The operation that is the inverse of differentiation is called integration. 与微分相反的运算叫做积分。

8 lengthier   

adj.长的，漫长的，啰嗦的( lengthy的比较级 )

参考例句：

9 know-how   

n.知识；技术；诀窍

参考例句：

• He hasn't got the know-how to run a farm.他没有经营农场的专业知识。
• I don't have much know-how about engines.发动机方面的技术知识我知之甚少。

10 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。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

13 pickup   

n.拾起，获得

参考例句：

• I would love to trade this car for a pickup truck.我愿意用这辆汽车换一辆小型轻便卡车。||The luck guy is a choice pickup for the girls.那位幸运的男孩是女孩子们想勾搭上的人。