VOA标准英语2014--:埃博拉病毒或对经济造成巨大影响

 

Ebola Deals Economic Blow 埃博拉病毒或对经济造成巨大影响

The World Bank Group warns that the West Africa Ebola crisis could deal a huge economic blow to Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone unless swift action is taken

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim held a teleconference Wednesday to outline the economic effects of the Ebola epidemic¹.

“Our findings indicate that if the virus continues to spread the economic cost to these countries could grow eight-fold by 2015. This would deal a potentially catastrophic blow to their already fragile economies.”

Kim said the top priority is “to save lives and prevent new infections.” The bank has released $117-million in grant funding for the “immediate humanitarian² response.”

But he said the SARS outbreak from 2002 to 2004 showed how a disease can hurt economies. SARs killed 800 people and caused $40-billion in economic losses. Kim said SARS and the H1N1 outbreak in 2009 taught that fear and aversion behavior caused up to 90-percent of the economic impact.

“The fear of contagion³ has helped fuel an economic crisis in the Ebola crisis as well. There are two kinds of contagion. One is related to the virus itself and the second is related to the spread of fear about the virus. Already the fear factor from the Ebola outbreak has reduced labor⁴ force participation⁵, closed places of employment, disrupted transportation and motivated some government and private decision makers⁶ to close seaports⁷ and airports,” said Kim.

The World Bank Group head said the sooner the fear factor can be confronted the sooner the Gross Domestic Product losses can be contained.

“For 2014,” Kim said, “we estimate that the GDP losses to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea from this crisis will be a combined $360-million, which is a huge portion of the overall GDPs of these small countries. We expect that the impact on government budgets to be $292-million.”

However, he said, next year, if there’s a rapid and effective response, the combined cost to economic output could be as low as $97-million. But he warned, if the spread of the virus is not checked by an “immediate massive effort,” the economic toll⁸ could reach $800-million in 2015.

The World Bank assessment⁹ focused only on Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. But preliminary estimates indicate if the Ebola virus spreads to other African nations the impact could be many billions of dollars.

Dr. Kim said that “time is of the essence.” He said that the “best case scenario”—that is, getting the outbreak under control -- is “still not in sight.” That’s because there are not enough health workers or resources in the region.

Kim said it does not matter how many cases there are. What matters, he said, is how quickly the response is scaled-up.

“However many cases there are right now, if we get an effective response on the ground in the next few months,  we can really blunt the vast majority – 80 to 90-percent – of the economic impact.”

He said an effective response could sharply lower the current death rate from Ebola of around 53-percent. He said while there’s no cure or vaccine¹⁰, with treatments such as IV hydration and monitoring of electrolytes in the blood – such as potassium, calcium¹¹ and sodium¹² -- a “very high percentage” of infected people “could survive.”

Kim added the response just needs “more people, more money, more attention and more commitment.”

1 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

2 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

3 contagion   

n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延

参考例句：

• A contagion of fear swept through the crowd.一种恐惧感在人群中迅速蔓延开。
• The product contagion effect has numerous implications for marketing managers and retailers.产品传染效应对市场营销管理者和零售商都有很多的启示。

4 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

5 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

6 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 seaports   

n.海港( seaport的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Airports have joined seaports as ports of entry for the visiting foreigner. 机场和海港一样成为来访的外国人的入境关口。 来自互联网
• Sanya has 16 seaports, 10 islands and 180km of coastline. 三亚有16个港口、10个海岛和180公里的海岸线。 来自互联网

8 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

9 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？

10 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。

11 calcium   

n.钙(化学符号Ca)

参考例句：

• We need calcium to make bones.我们需要钙来壮骨。
• Calcium is found most abundantly in milk.奶含钙最丰富。

12 sodium   

n.（化）钠

参考例句：

• Out over the town the sodium lights were lit.在外面，全城的钠光灯都亮了。
• Common salt is a compound of sodium and chlorine.食盐是钠和氯的复合物。