联合国报道称刚果流行病毒爆发与环境有关

 

UN Report Links Infectious Disease Outbreak

 in Congo to Environment

联合国报道称刚果流行病毒爆发与环境有关

 

A United Nations' environment official Monday said the recent outbreak of pneumonic¹ plague in the Democratic Republic of Congo could be linked to environmental conditions. This is one example of what experts note is a growing link between environmental degradation² and the rise in infectious diseases.

 

The head of the environment and health unit at the United Nations Environment Program, Hiremagalur Gopalan, told reporters in Nairobi exposure to mercury and overcrowded living conditions likely played a major role in the recent outbreak of pneumonic plague among miners in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

 

Hiremagalur Gopalan: They [miners] are also immuno-compromised. There is mining activity. They're also exposed to mercury. Mercury is known to reduce the immune activity. And they also live close together. This pneumonic plague is [transmitted] through breathing, through aerosols⁴. So it's possible that it is linked to the environment in which they live.

 

The World Health Organization (WHO) said last Friday at least 61 miners in Ituri district had died of pneumonic plague. The organization and several health groups are investigating the outbreak, which is believed to have started December 21.

 

The pneumonic plague outbreak is a recent example of what environmental experts are saying is a rise in new and previously⁵ suppressed infectious diseases because of changes people have made to the environment. These include clearing land for agriculture or urban sprawl⁶, or dumping pollutants⁷ into the air, water, and land.

 

This is one of the findings of the U.N.'s Global Environment Outlook Yearbook, released during UNEP's governing council meeting in Nairobi this week.

The deputy director of the United Nations Environment Program's early warning and assessment⁸ division, Marion Cheatle, described to reporters how environmental changes have encouraged the breeding of mosquitoes, which, in turn, spread dengue fever and malaria⁹.

 

Marion Cheatle: I think all of us are aware of how mosquitoes can be encouraged in areas where we've disturbed the environment, where we've left litter around, where we changed the course of the water system to provide irrigation and big dams, and where there are more breeding places for these insects.

 

Ms. Cheatle said the incidence of dengue fever and malaria have risen dramatically over time because of urban sprawl and other changes in land-use and human settlement patterns.

 

She said in the 1970s, there were only about nine countries worldwide that suffered from this disease. Today, dengue has spread to over 100 countries. Similarly in eastern and southern Africa, the proportion of under-five deaths from malaria doubled between the 1980s and 1990s.

 

Other diseases experts say are linked to the environment include: lyme disease, schistosomiasis, tuberculosis¹⁰, bubonic plague and cholera¹¹.

 

Cathy Majtenyi, for VOA news, Nairobi.

 

注释：

mercury [5mE:kjuri] n. 水银

pneumonic [nju(:)5mCnik] adj. 肺的

aerosol³ [5ZErEsCl] n. 浮质

sprawl [sprC:l] n. 蔓延

breeding [5bri:diN] n. 饲养

irrigation [7iri5^eiFEn] n. 灌溉

1 pneumonic   

adj.肺的；肺炎的

参考例句：

• The chill superinduced a pneumonic condition. 受寒并发了肺炎。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The fatality rate of pneumonic plague a staggering 95 percent. 肺鼠疫的死亡率是达到惊人95％。 来自互联网

2 degradation   

n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变

参考例句：

• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。
• Gambling is always coupled with degradation.赌博总是与堕落相联系。

3 aerosol   

n.悬浮尘粒，气溶胶，烟雾剂，喷雾器

参考例句：

• They sprayed aerosol insect repellent into the faces of police.他们将喷雾驱虫剂喷在了警察的脸上。
• Aerosol particles affect visibility,climate,and our health and quality of life.气溶胶对大气能见度、气候变化以及人类健康等有重要影响。

4 aerosols   

n.气溶胶( aerosol的名词复数 )；喷雾剂；（气体中的）浮粒；喷雾器

参考例句：

• Aerosols are present throughout the atmosphere. 气溶胶存在于整个大气层。 来自辞典例句
• Deodorants are available as aerosols or roll-ons. 除臭剂有喷雾装或滚抹装。 来自辞典例句

5 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

6 sprawl   

vi.躺卧，扩张，蔓延；vt.使蔓延；n.躺卧，蔓延

参考例句：

• In our garden,bushes are allowed to sprawl as they will.在我们园子里，灌木丛爱怎么蔓延就怎么蔓延。
• He is lying in a sprawl on the bed.他伸开四肢躺在床上。

7 pollutants   

污染物质（尤指工业废物）( pollutant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Pollutants are constantly being released into the atmosphere. 污染物质正在不断地被排放到大气中去。
• The 1987 Amendments limit 301(g) discharges to a few well-studied nonconventional pollutants. 1987年的修正案把第301条（g）的普通排放限制施加在一些认真研究过的几种非常规污染物上。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

8 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？

9 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。

10 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

11 cholera   

n.霍乱

参考例句：

• The cholera outbreak has been contained.霍乱的发生已被控制住了。
• Cholera spread like wildfire through the camps.霍乱在营地里迅速传播。