VOA标准英语2014--研究人员制定埃博拉暴发的实时监控

 

Researchers Develop Real-Time Monitoring for Ebola Outbreaks 研究人员制定埃博拉暴发的实时监控

Knowing where the Ebola hot spots are in a country is crucial to getting an outbreak quickly under control. Many have criticized the initial slow response to the West Africa outbreak, saying it’s a big reason the virus quickly spread. Now, a German research center is developing a project to monitor Ebola and other outbreaks in real time.

Professor Gérard Krause said the new project – called EBOKON – uses real-time monitoring to better manage an outbreak.

“At the moment we don’t have treatments available and we don’t have vaccines² available," he said. "And even if we did we would still need rapid follow-up of every new case that is occurring in order to guide this new patient to proper isolation³ and treatment.”

Even more important, he said, is finding all those who came in contact with the patient – a process called contract tracing.

“Capture every contact person and to follow-up this contact person for 21 days and to see that they don’t develop fever. If you have a number of cases it can be very, very complex, very rapidly – and will rapidly overwhelm the staff in the field. So for that reason we are trying to build a management tool that will facilitate this task,” he said.

Krause is head of the Department of Epidemiology at the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research – and EBOKON project leader for the German Center for Infection Research.

He said, “This is an information technology tool that we are developing together with colleagues from Nigeria that will take care of all those management aspects.”

The EBOKON project calls for setting up a command center, so to speak, in the capital of affected⁴ countries. Then health workers would use cellphones to relay in real time information on suspected cases around the country.

“From the first entry of a rumor⁵ entering the public health service, they would send someone to verify the case. And when this case is verified there would be diagnostic initiated⁶. When the diagnostic is confirmed there will be contact persons followed up for 21 days. If they develop fever, they will then again be treated as suspect people. And so it gets very complicated very fast. We need a management tool that takes care of that,” Krause said.

The health workers would be contacted by cellphone with instructions on how to handle their situation.

“The emergency operations center in the center of the city will have a full overview⁷ of what’s happening – and can also redirect the resources accordingly. At the moment we are working in Nigeria on this for the simple reason that they have successfully gone through the experience in containing the outbreak and this is very valuable experience. And should it become successful there it will, of course, be applicable generally to any other country,” he said.

The Nigerian EBOKON project is taking place in Lagos and Port Harcourt. Qualified⁸ personnel are being borrowed from other groups to help test the system. Some 500 cellphones will be distributed. The German Ministry⁹ of Education and Research is providing $3 million to fund the project.

In all, 10 EBOKON projects are on the drawing board for the next 14 months. Besides Ebola, they’ll manage the latest information on vaccine¹ research and analysis of the infection process.

1 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

2 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

3 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 rumor   

n.谣言，谣传，传说

参考例句：

• The rumor has been traced back to a bad man.那谣言经追查是个坏人造的。
• The rumor has taken air.谣言流传开了。

6 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

7 overview   

n.概观，概述

参考例句：

• The opening chapter gives a brief historical overview of transport.第一章是运输史的简要回顾。
• The seminar aims to provide an overview on new media publishing.研讨会旨在综览新兴的媒体出版。

8 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

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。