环球英语 — 287：Ebola - A Mystery Disease

　　Voice 1
Hello. I’m Ruby¹ Jones.
Voice 2
And I’m Rachel Hobson. Welcome to Spotlight². This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
The sun beats down on the rain forest. The air is hot and damp. A village stands in a clear place in the forest. Its small houses are made of grass. But these houses are empty. All the people are gathered under a tree. They talk quietly. Their eyes are wide with fear. They have heard stories of another village nearby. They know that some people there are very sick, that they are dying³. They have heard the words they fear the most - the Ebola virus.
Voice 2
In today’s Spotlight we tell of the Ebola virus. We talk about recent cases of this disease⁴. Why are people so afraid of Ebola? Is there any hope of helping⁵ people who have Ebola to survive?
Voice 1
Doctors and researchers first discovered the Ebola virus in 1976. At that time hundreds of people started dying. They lived near the Ebola River, in the north east part of Zaire. Zaire is now the Democratic⁶ Republic of Congo, or DR Congo. Around the same time people in nearby parts of Sudan started dying too. Doctors had not seen anything like it. In total this disease killed over four hundred people in a very short period of time. In some villages, the disease killed everybody.
Voice 2
And yet, Ebola has never killed a large number of people, like malaria⁷ or HIV-AIDS. So why do people fear it? One reason is that it can spread quickly from person to person in a community. Another reason is that the effects of the disease are horrible to suffer, or even to see. Victims bleed badly. And yet another reason is that the disease kills most people who catch it.
Voice 1
Researchers discovered that Ebola can stay in a person’s body up to twenty-one days before the person feels sick. During this time the Ebola virus develops into Ebola Haemorrhagic Fever. When that happens, people usually die after only three or four days. The first sign is a sudden fever. The patient feels weak. He or she feels pain in different parts of the body - the head, muscles and throat.
Voice 2
The patient keeps getting worse. He gets diarrhoea. He cannot keep food in his stomach. His skin develops marks - a rash⁸. His kidneys⁹ and liver¹⁰ start to fail. And his body starts bleeding both inside and outside. Finally, he dies from the bleeding.
Voice 1
Ebola spreads easily to other people through body fluids¹¹ - blood and waste. Often people who care for infected people get sick too.
Voice 2
Since 1976, Ebola has appeared over thirteen times. The worst cases have been in DR Congo and other countries in central Africa - Sudan, Gabon and Uganda. Ebola kills fifty to ninety percent [50-90%] of people it infects. There is no cure - so medical workers can only give support treatments. For example they try to replace the fluids and minerals that sick people lose.
Voice 1
Doctors also take steps to stop the virus from spreading in the community. Immediately, they try to contain it. They do this by keeping infected people separate from other people. However, there are other less severe diseases¹³ that cause similar physical problems to the Ebola virus - skin rashes¹⁴, fever and diarrhea. So when doctors suspect a case of Ebola, they send blood samples away for testing.
Voice 2
As well as this, doctors must carefully train local health workers how to protect themselves. Health workers have to wear special clothes. They must completely disinfect equipment. And they have to deal carefully with infected people’s dirty clothes and bed coverings.
Voice 1
Containing Ebola attacks is not easy. Doctors must find people who may have met and touched Ebola victims. They have to warn these people about the dangers. Some of these people could visit other villages - and spread Ebola to them. The doctors observe all these people for three weeks. They measure their temperature two times every day. People with a high temperature are separated from the community.
Voice 2
An important part of containing Ebola is educating local communities about the disease. Medical workers have trained local people to recognize signs of the disease. They have told them safe measures to follow such as how to deal with dead bodies. This is important because in some funeral traditions, people wash dead bodies. Health workers have told people not to directly touch the bodies of people who die from Ebola. In the past, whole families have died after getting the disease from washing a dead family member’s body.
Voice 1
Several countries are trying hard to battle the Ebola virus. But sadly, in April 2007, people in Kananga in DR Congo started getting sick. By September over three hundred and fifty [350] people were sick. And one-hundred and sixty-eight [168] had died. At first, health officials did not know if the disease killing¹⁵ people was Ebola. They needed an answer urgently¹⁶. They sent blood samples to laboratories¹⁷ in Gabon and the United States.
Voice 2
The blood samples showed that some of the cases were Ebola. Health officials became very concerned. But that was not the only news. Other diseases were there too - typhoid and shigella. Some people had more than one disease.
Voice 1
Health Officials in DR Congo started to treat all of the diseases. But their main concern was to find and treat people with the Ebola virus. And international groups helped too. For example, ‘Doctors Without Borders’ sent supplies. They sent tents for shelter and materials to build more shelters. They sent medicine, water and cleaning materials. Other aid groups sent teams of doctors and experts to DR Congo. They set up temporary movable laboratories. In this way doctors could test for Ebola in the immediate¹² area. They could quickly identify which disease a person had.
Voice 2
Community education, containment¹⁸ methods and tests are important. But until a cure can be found, this terrible disease will continue to claim lives. No one knows exactly where Ebola comes from. But scientists do have some theories. Maybe learning¹⁹ about the origins of this disease could provide the answer to preventing it. In another programme, we will tell of an important theory about where Ebola comes from. Could this be the answer to solving the Ebola mystery?
 

1 ruby   

n.红宝石，红宝石色

参考例句：

• She is wearing a small ruby earring.她戴着一枚红宝石小耳环。
• On the handle of his sword sat the biggest ruby in the world.他的剑柄上镶有一颗世上最大的红宝石。

2 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

3 dying   

adj.垂死的，临终的

参考例句：

• He was put in charge of the group by the dying leader.他被临终的领导人任命为集团负责人。
• She was shown into a small room,where there was a dying man.她被领进了一间小屋子，那里有一个垂死的人。

4 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 democratic   

adj.民主的；民主主义的，有民主精神的

参考例句：

• Their country has democratic government.他们国家实行民主政体。
• He has a democratic work-style.他作风民主。

7 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

8 rash   

adj.轻率的；n.（皮）疹，爆发的一连串

参考例句：

• My skin has broken out in an itchy rash.我的皮肤上突然长出一片让人发痒的皮疹。
• Don't be rash in making your decision.别轻率做出决定。

9 kidneys   

肾形矿脉； 肾，肾脏( kidney的名词复数 )； （可食用的动物的）腰子

参考例句：

• The function of the kidneys is to excrete wastes from the body. 肾的功能是排泄人体里的废物。
• She got a very dangerous disease of kidneys. 她得了一种很危险的肾病。

10 liver   

n.肝；肝脏

参考例句：

• He has a weak liver.他的肝脏不好。
• The largest organ in the body is the liver.人体最大的器官是肝脏。

11 fluids   

n.液体，流体( fluid的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He is taking cold fluids. 他正在喝冷饮。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• You can contract Aids if your bodily fluids come into contact with the bodily fluids of someone else who is infected with HIV. 如果你的体液与染有HIV者的体液接触，你就会染上艾滋病。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

13 diseases   

n.疾病( disease的名词复数 )；弊端；恶疾；痼疾

参考例句：

• Smoking is a causative factor in several major diseases. 抽烟是引起几种严重疾病的病因。
• The illness frequently coexists with other chronic diseases. 这种病往往与其他慢性病同时存在。

14 rashes   

发疹( rash的名词复数 )； 疹子； 大量； （涌现的）令人不快的事物

参考例句：

• Rashes have erupted all over my back. 我背上出满了疹子。
• This ointment is good for soothing skin rashes. 这软膏对减轻皮肤红疹有用。

15 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

16 urgently   

ad.紧急地，紧迫地

参考例句：

• You would be well advised to tackle this problem urgently. 你还是抓紧处理这个问题为好。
• Please send us the material at once; it's urgently needed. 请把材料赶紧送来，有急用。

17 laboratories   

n.实验室( laboratory的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• For, eight years, Marie Curie worked in cold laboratories with poor equipment. 整整八年，居里夫人在设备简陋、冰冷的实验室里做着实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• Some commercial laboratories use periodic nitrate tests as guides. 许多商业性的试验室已应用定期的硝态氮分析作为指导。 来自辞典例句

18 containment   

n.阻止，遏制；容量

参考例句：

• Your list might include such things as cost containment,quality,or customer satisfaction.你的清单上应列有诸如成本控制、产品质量、客户满意程度等内容。
• Insularity and self-containment,it is argued,go hand in hand.他们争论说，心胸狭窄和自我封闭是并存的。

19 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。