HEALTH REPORT - Nations Are Urged to Do More Against Risk of

HEALTH REPORT - Nations Are Urged to Do More Against Risk of Avian Flu
By Cynthia Kirk

Broadcast: Wednesday, October 12, 2005

I'm Shep O'Neal with the VOA Special English Health Report.

The World Health Organization says avian influenza¹ could become a worldwide threat unless governments act now to stop it. Officials at the United Nations agency² warn that bird flu could kill as many as seven million people. They say the number of deaths would depend on the severity of the virus once it entered the general population.

So far, avian influenza has mostly infected people who have been around infected birds and their waste. The W.H.O. said at the end of September that it had reports of sixty deaths. These were among one hundred sixteen confirmed cases since December of two thousand three. The deaths were mostly in Vietnam, but also in Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia.

The virus has also been found in birds in other countries in Asia. Experts say migrating³ wild birds have helped spread the virus.

Fifteen flu viruses infect birds. Officials are most concerned about the h-five-n-one virus. It could spread easily from person to person if it mixes with human flu virus. That might happen if a person or an animal, such as a pig, becomes infected with both human and avian flu. The body has no defenses against bird flu.

The first cases of h-five-n-one in people were reported in Hong Kong eight years ago. Six people died. Workers quickly killed one and one-half million chickens and other birds to stop the spread of the virus. Millions of farm birds have been destroyed in an effort to halt⁴ the current outbreak.

Anti-viral medicine has been used with some success to treat bird flu. Scientists have a vaccine⁵ that might protect against the virus. But officials say there is not enough to deal with a major outbreak.

President Bush has called for ways to expand vaccine production. He has also suggested the use of the military to try to contain any possible outbreak in the United States. The State Department last week held an international meeting to discuss the threat from bird flu.

Also last week, scientists in the United States announced that they have remade the so-called⁶ Spanish flu virus. An outbreak in nineteen eighteen killed as many as fifty million people worldwide.

The scientists say they found that the Spanish flu came from birds. They hope the recreated virus will help them to better understand what makes the current bird flu so deadly. They also hope to find ways to protect against any big outbreak.

This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Cynthia Kirk. I'm Shep O'Neal.

1 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。

2 agency   

n.经办；代理；代理处

参考例句：

• This disease is spread through the agency of insects.这种疾病是通过昆虫媒介传播的。
• He spoke in the person of Xinhua News Agency.他代表新华社讲话。

3 migrating   

v.迁移，移往( migrate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The mudflats offer a winter home to thousands of migrating swans. 泥滩成为成千上万只迁徙的天鹅越冬的场所。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many Asians are migrating to the West. 许多亚洲人移民去了西方国家。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 halt   

n.停住，停止，暂停；v.(使)停住，(使)停止

参考例句：

• When the children's play got too noisy, their mother called a halt.当孩子们的游戏过于吵闹时，他们的母亲叫他们停下来。
• No one can halt the advance of history.没人能阻挡历史的前进。

5 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。

6 so-called   

adj.所谓的，号称的

参考例句：

• These were the so-called mainframe machines.它们被称为主机。
• Let's see what this so-called button does.让我们来看看为什么这个按钮叫这个名字。