美国卫生部称禽流感对世界造成威胁

 

Avian Flu Poses Ominous¹ Threat to World,

says US Health Official

美国卫生部称禽流感对世界造成威胁

 

A top U.S. health official says the country is preparing for the possibility of a deadly global pandemic of avian flu. The head of America's disease-tracking agency, the Centers for Disease Control, says avian flu poses an ominous threat to the world.

 

As the season for avian flu begins in Asia, the message Centers for Disease Control chief Julie Gerberding has brought to Washington this week is that her agency is very concerned about the virus.

 

She told the American Association for the Advancement² of Science convention on Monday that the ailment³ is the biggest disease threat to the world. She said a highly infectious strain is circulating in chickens and ducks in Asia and could mix with human strains. The virus can jump directly from birds to people or can be transmitted through pigs.

 

On Tuesday at the National Press Club in Washington, Dr. Gerberding told journalists that her agency is taking precautionary measures to prevent a new strain from spreading in Asia and abroad.

 

Dr. Gerberding: There are more pigs, people, and poultry⁴ in that environment than we have ever seen before. That is the formula for emergence⁵ of new flu strains.  We already know this particular strain of virus can infect people, we already know that it can occasionally move from person to person, and we know how these viruses evolve. So it is a worrisome situation and we are taking many steps to be as prepared as we can and to prevent the transmission of a new virus strain in the global arena⁶.

 

The avian flu has a high mortality rate. About 72 percent of those infected die from it. It emerged in Hong Kong in 1997 and there is no immunity⁷ to the virus.

 

Dr. Gerberding says her agency is working with the World Health Organization (WHO) and national health ministries⁸ in Asia to expand the ability to detect the emergence and spread of a new avian flu strain. She says the Centers for Disease Control is preparing to have a sufficient stockpile of antiviral drugs to ship to any region where the disease is found and has ordered two million doses of a vaccine⁹ that would protect Americans against known avian flu strains.

 

The U.S. health official says she does not mean to imply an avian flu pandemic is imminent¹⁰. She says it takes time to evolve and circulate.  Such a situation occurred in 1918, when flu also passed from birds to people.  However, it eventually killed more than 25 million people worldwide.

 

Dr. Gerberding: When avian virus evolved to form the 1918 flu strain that caused the global pandemic, It didn't happen overnight. It happens in a series of progressive steps where you'll see local outbreaks and the virus gradually evolves to become more efficiently¹¹ transmitted from person to person. That's why the efforts that we're making to scale up and speed up the laboratory detection capabilities¹² around the globe are so critically important to our effort.

 

Dr. Gerberding says the world needs to be shaken out of its complacency concerning avian flu virus.

 

David McAlary, VOA news, Washington.

 

注释：

pandemic [pAn5demik] adj. 大范围流行的

avian flu 禽流感

ominous [5CminEs] adj. 恶兆的，不吉利的

transmit [trAnz5mit] vt. 传播

precautionary [pri5kR:FEnEri] adj. 预防的 precautionary measure 防范措施

imminent [5iminEnt] adj. 即将来临的，逼近的

complacency [kEm5pleisEnsi] n. 安心

1 ominous   

adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的

参考例句：

• Those black clouds look ominous for our picnic.那些乌云对我们的野餐来说是个不祥之兆。
• There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.电话那头出现了不祥的沉默。

2 advancement   

n.前进，促进，提升

参考例句：

• His new contribution to the advancement of physiology was well appreciated.他对生理学发展的新贡献获得高度赞赏。
• The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning.大学的目标应是促进学术。

3 ailment   

n.疾病，小病

参考例句：

• I don't have even the slightest ailment.我什么毛病也没有。
• He got timely treatment for his ailment.他的病得到了及时治疗。

4 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

5 emergence   

n.浮现，显现，出现，（植物）突出体

参考例句：

• The last decade saw the emergence of a dynamic economy.最近10年见证了经济增长的姿态。
• Language emerges and develops with the emergence and development of society.语言是随着社会的产生而产生，随着社会的发展而发展的。

6 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

7 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

8 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。

9 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。

10 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

11 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

12 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓