2007年VOA标准英语-Bird Flu Still Seen as Problem Despite Better C

By Sabina Castelfranco
Rome
27 June 2007

Health and veterinary experts have singled out Indonesia, Egypt and Nigeria as countries where the risk of bird flu contagion¹ is particularly worrisome.  Gathered at the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome to take stock of efforts to contain the deadly form of bird flu, experts said important improvements have been made in some places, but there is no room for complacency. Sabina Castelfranco reports for the VOA from Rome.

Fowl2 vendors3 wait for buyers in a fowl market in Lagos, Nigeria, 06 February 2007" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070704/1030520.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

Fowl vendors wait for buyers in a fowl market in Lagos, Nigeria, 06 February 2007

Experts gathered in Rome for a three-day technical meeting on avian influenza⁴ and human infection with the deadly H5N1 strain of the flu.  They said bird flu is still an important and worrying problem, and a potential human influenza pandemic cannot be ruled out as long as the virus exists in poultry⁵.
 
FAO's Chief Veterinary Officer Joseph Domenech said important results have been achieved in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. He said that in places where the H5N1 virus was introduced during the past six months, it was rapidly detected and eliminated or controlled.

But he warned that, although the response to the deadly H5N1 virus in poultry has significantly improved over the past three years, the virus remains⁶ entrenched⁷ in several countries and will continue to spread.

"We have particularly three very worrying situations which are first of all Indonesia, and then Egypt and then far from these previous two Nigeria, so still a risk of human pandemic and poultry sector⁸ impacts," he said.

So far, there is no evidence that the deadly strain of the virus has been transmitted from person to person. But experts fear that if the H5N1 virus mutates it could become easily transmitted among humans, triggering a global pandemic. 

Domenech said Indonesia faces the most serious problems because of the number of people in direct contact with the virus and because there are a large number of outbreaks. The country has more than 13,000 live poultry markets where humans come into contact with birds grown for market and where birds from different places are exposed to each other, raising the danger of transmission.

"Indonesia is for sure the country where the investment attention has to be put because this is where the situation is of high risk of getting a new virus at the origin of human pandemic, as it was in China, Vietnam and Thailand three years ago," he added.

The FAO experts said efficient veterinary services and improved private/public partnership⁹ for better surveillance and control are indispensable.

Since 2003, the H5N1 virus has infected 310 people. A total of 190 have died of the disease. Some 250 million poultry have been destroyed, or have died from bird flu. Over the past two years, the international community has pledged more than $2.4 billion to deal with avian influenza. 

Researchers are working on a vaccine¹⁰ to prevent the deadly form of the disease.

1 contagion   

n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延

参考例句：

• A contagion of fear swept through the crowd.一种恐惧感在人群中迅速蔓延开。
• The product contagion effect has numerous implications for marketing managers and retailers.产品传染效应对市场营销管理者和零售商都有很多的启示。

2 fowl   

n.家禽，鸡，禽肉

参考例句：

• Fowl is not part of a traditional brunch.禽肉不是传统的早午餐的一部分。
• Since my heart attack,I've eaten more fish and fowl and less red meat.自从我患了心脏病后，我就多吃鱼肉和禽肉，少吃红色肉类。

3 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

4 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。

5 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?

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 entrenched   

adj.确立的，不容易改的(风俗习惯)

参考例句：

• Television seems to be firmly entrenched as the number one medium for national advertising.电视看来要在全国广告媒介中牢固地占据头等位置。
• If the enemy dares to attack us in these entrenched positions,we will make short work of them.如果敌人胆敢进攻我们固守的阵地，我们就消灭他们。

8 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

9 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

10 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。