VOA慢速英语2014 卫生部长召开埃博拉紧急会议

 

AS IT IS 2014-07-11 Health Ministers Meet in Emergency Ebola Conference 卫生部长召开埃博拉紧急会议

Health ministers from West African countries met in Ghana last week for emergency talks about the Ebola virus. The World Health Organization says the disease has killed more than 500 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone since February.

Hundreds more have been infected. Last Wednesday, WHO officials said there have been at least 50 new cases of Ebola in Liberia and Sierra Leone since July 3rd. They said that no new cases have been reported in Guinea in the past week. But the number of suspected cases and deaths continues to rise almost daily in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

As the meetings ended, a top United Nations health official said the Ebola outbreak could last several more months. But Keiji Fukuda was reported as saying that it is impossible to clearly predict how much farther the disease could spread.

Police and medical workers are on duty at security positions near the town of Kenema, Sierra Leone. Officials are forcing people to be tested for the Ebola virus. Some of those infected try to avoid being tested. They want their infection to remain a secret.

Peter Piot is the director of the London School of Hygiene¹ and Tropical Medicine. He says this is the largest number of Ebola cases since the disease was first identified in the 1970s.

“The outbreak in West Africa is unprecedented² in the history of Ebola outbreaks because it involves three countries, at least, capital cities, multiple sources -- and, and that will make it far more difficult to control.”

Ebola causes high body temperature and bleeding. Victims may experience vomiting³ -- the involuntary emptying of the stomach.  They also may have diarrhea, the uncontrolled expulsion of body wastes.

The virus is spread through contact with the blood or other fluids of infected people.

Doctors say a lack of understanding about the disease is partly to blame for how fast it has spread. And largely-unguarded borders between the affected⁴ countries make it difficult to contain.

Shek Moar Khan works at the Kenema Government Hospital in Sierra Leone. He says families often bury Ebola victims in secret.  He notes that when family members touch the body of the loved one, they may get infected themselves.

"By the time people are dead with the Ebola they are more infectious⁵ than all. So if they take care of their burial on their own, 10 more will be infected.”

In neighboring Liberia, Elizabeth Smith lies bleeding on a hospital bed. She is a health care worker. She became infected with the virus after caring for people who had it. Her coworkers are doing what they can to help, but she has just a 10 percent chance of survival⁶.

Philip Azumah is the district health officer. He says Liberia cannot fight the disease alone.

“We are calling on the international community to come and support the ministry⁷. Right now we can’t do it now. We need international support.”

But Peter Piot says communities need more than just medical help. He says they need to educate people about the disease and how to stop its spread.

“Fear of the virus and distrust of authorities and of the health system probably is as bad and as dangerous as the virus itself. And what I think is needed now is a massive⁸ information campaign -- but not just facts, but involving community leaders, the media, the local media, more than disease experts.”

Health workers bury the dead in the countryside without leaving markers with the names of the victims. The disease is so easily spread that the workers leave disinfectant every step of the way. The chemical liquid destroys bacteria. The workers’ protective clothing is buried along with the body.

The number of dead is rising. Medical workers say efforts to stop the Ebola virus have not been strong enough. 

1 hygiene   

n.健康法，卫生学 （a.hygienic）

参考例句：

• Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。
• He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。

2 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

3 vomiting   

吐

参考例句：

• Symptoms include diarrhoea and vomiting. 症状有腹泻和呕吐。
• Especially when I feel seasick, I can't stand watching someone else vomiting." 尤其晕船的时候，看不得人家呕。”

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 infectious   

adj.传染的，有传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• Influenza is an infectious disease.流感是一种传染病。
• What an infectious laugh she has!她的笑声多么具有感染力啊！

6 survival   

n.留住生命，生存，残存，幸存者

参考例句：

• The doctor told my wife I had a fifty-fifty chance of survival.医生告诉我的妻子，说我活下去的可能性只有50%。
• The old man was a survival of a past age.这位老人是上一代的遗老。

7 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

8 massive   

adj.巨大的，大规模的，大量的，大范围的

参考例句：

• A massive sea search has failed to find any survivors.经过大规模的海上搜救仍未找到幸存者。
• He drank a massive amount of alcohol.他喝了大量的烈酒。