英闻天下——474 China Steps up Monitoring after More H7N9 Bird Flu Cases Confirmed

 　　Four people in east China's Jiangsu Province have been confirmed as being infected with the lesser-known H7N9 bird flu, bringing the total number of infections in the country to seven.

 

　　The three women and one man, one of whom is a poultry¹ culler², are in critical conditions and under emergency treatment.

 

　　So far, a total of 167 people who have come into contact with the four show no symptoms of fever or respiratory illnesses.

 

　　Meanwhile, medical officials are moving to calm public concerns about the potential threat of the new strain of Avian Flu.

 

　　Doctor Zhu Xuemei from Shanghai Ruijin Hospital says the virus shows no signs of being highly contagious³ among humans.

 

　　"There is no evidence showing that domestic fowl⁴ can pass the virus onto humans. There should be no panic. Such flu is not uncommon⁵ in waterfowl."

 

　　Shanghai, where two people died from the first known human infections of the bird flu strain, has announced that statistics on pneumonia⁶ cases caused by unknown reasons will be reported daily.

 

　　The city government will also set up an expert team to evaluate the severity and risk of the H7N9 bird flu, to step up research on the virus.

 

　　Jiangsu Province has also designated 16 leading hospitals to accept new cases in a bid to offer better treatment and reduce the mortality rate.

 

　　Beijing has ordered hospitals to include the testing of H7N9 bird flu in routine monitoring and to train hospital staff on how to treat pneumonia caused by unknown factors.

 

　　Shandong has ordered morning tests of fever, cough and other respiratory symptoms at schools, nurseries and poultry farms.

 

　　However, Professor Jiang Qingwu from Fudan University says confirming the strain of virus is a slow process.

 

　　"We need to check every gene⁷ of each nucleotide of the virus. This is a rigorous procedure. And it takes a great amount of time from checking to confirmation⁸."

 

　　On Sunday, three H7N9 bird flu cases were reported, two in Shanghai and one in Anhui.

 

　　The one from Anhui is still in critical condition and under treatment in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province.

 

　　It is unclear how the three got infected, and no mutual⁹ infections were discovered among them.

 

　　There are no vaccines¹⁰ against the H7N9 bird flu virus either at home or abroad.

 

　　For CRI, I'm Chen Xi.

1 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?

2 culler   

检尺员；挑选家禽工；挑选工

参考例句：

3 contagious   

adj.传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
• He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。

4 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。

5 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

6 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

7 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

8 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

9 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

10 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。