VOA标准英语2015--研究数据表明每年59000人死于狂犬病

Study: Rabies Kills 59,000 People Annually 研究数据表明每年59000人死于狂犬病

Canine¹ rabies kills tens of thousands of people every year and costs economies billions of dollars. A new global study said understanding the true burden of the disease may result in more resources to prevent it.

Dr. Louise Taylor is with the Global Alliance for Rabies Control and is coordinator² of the Partners for Rabies Prevention Group.

Taylor said while the tools exist to prevent deaths from rabies, they’re not being used in many countries hardest hit by the disease.

“At the moment, our best estimate from this recent study is that about 59,000 people across the world are dying of rabies every year," she said. "And that’s just the burden from canine rabies transmitted by dogs.”

“So, aside from the deaths that we have, we have problems with the income that those people could have generated. And so there’s a wider societal cost that’s impacting heavily on developing countries, particularly. And then there are all the costs in terms of the control efforts that are being put in," Taylor continued. "So although control efforts are not adequate to prevent all the deaths, they are preventing a large number of deaths. So, when we add up all those costs together this recent study has basically come out and said: a total cost of about $8.6 billion to the global economy every year.”

Rabies is spread mostly by dogs, even though it exists in many bats. Men and boys generally receive more bites from infected dogs than women and girls.

Taylor said, “It does tend to affect children slightly disproportionately and the WHO estimates probably about 40 to 60 percent of the victims are children under the age of about 16. And that comes about because with it being transmitted by dogs children tend to be attracted towards dogs. And they may not understand exactly how to behave around a dog. They may provoke the dog a little bit more than maybe an adult would. And so they tend to both be affected³ more by dog bites and also by more severe dog bites.”

Africa, Asia and Latin America are regions where rabies is endemic.

While vaccinating⁴ dogs is routine in the U.S. and other developed countries, that’s not the case in many developing nations. It costs between one and five dollars to vaccinate⁵ a dog if done on a massive scale, like in the United States. But Taylor said that can be a financial hardship for a poor family.

“In the developing world, the infrastructure⁶ of the veterinary systems and also the health systems is just much less developed," Taylor said. "And there are just not wide-scale distribution networks for vaccination⁷. We’re also looking at a population that is really at the poor end of the spectrum⁸. And so those people do not necessarily have the money available to vaccinate their dogs. And there’s also an awareness⁹ issue as well that we need to build awareness that this can be prevented.”

Taylor described the study’s findings as a current situation report of global rabies control.

“These countries have many other health priorities. It’s a very difficult balance. And what we found is that canine rabies just doesn’t seem to get the attention that it really should have amongst these other competing priorities,” she said.

In fact, The World Health Organization has classified canine rabies as a neglected tropical disease. Taylor would like rabies to be among health priorities included in the new Sustainable Development Goals later this year.

Because so many dogs are not vaccinated¹⁰, large numbers of people must be treated after they are bitten. They must receive a series of injections to prevent the nearly always fatal disease.

For example, Taylor said in Asia 26 million people receive post-exposure treatment every year. Fifteen million of them are in China. But in Africa, many people bitten by a rabid dog have no access to life-saving treatment.

Prevention, she said, is the easiest way to save lives, both animal and human.

1 canine   

adj.犬的，犬科的

参考例句：

• The fox is a canine animal.狐狸是犬科动物。
• Herbivorous animals have very small canine teeth,or none.食草动物的犬牙很小或者没有。

2 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

3 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。

4 vaccinating   

给…接种疫苗( vaccinate的现在分词 )； 注射疫苗，接种疫苗

参考例句：

• At first blush, vaccinating the wolves against rabies seems a simple solution. 乍一看来，为狼群注射防狂犬病疫苗是一种简单的办法。
• Also vaccinating children against misers (measles) has saved many lives. 还有，给儿童进行疫苗接种防止麻疹也挽救了许多生命。

5 vaccinate   

vt.给…接种疫苗；种牛痘

参考例句：

• Local health officials then can plan the best times to vaccinate people.这样，当地的卫生官员就可以安排最佳时间给人们接种疫苗。
• Doctors vaccinate us so that we do not catch smallpox.医生给我们打预防针使我们不会得天花。

6 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

7 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

8 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

9 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。

10 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？