2006年VOA标准英语-Bird Flu Confirmed in Ivory Coast

By Franz Wild
Ivory Coast
04 May 2006
 

People working at a local market slaughtering¹ chickens in the city of Abidjan, Ivory Coast   
  
The government of Ivory Coast has announced that the lethal² H5N1 strain of bird flu has been found in birds in the commercial capital, Abidjan.  Sales of chicken have dropped considerably³ as many consumers are now avoiding it.

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The Ivorian government received confirmation⁴ from the main World Organization for Animal Health laboratory in Italy that the 17 birds found in Abidjan had the deadly H5N1 bird flu.  Ivory Coast is the fifth West African country to detect the virus in its birds.

At Treichvilles Grand Marché in central Abidjan, chicken vendors⁵ standing⁶ beside cages filled with their livestock⁷ await customers.  Since last week's discovery of the H5N1 strain of the bird flu only a few blocks away, sales have dropped to practically zero.

With the government announcement Thursday that bird flu has struck Ivory Coast's commercial capital, the vendors are likely to have even fewer customers.

Idrissa Kondombo owns around 800 chickens, but has not sold any in the past week.  He says he used to sell between 20 and 30 a day, sometimes even 40.  Dropping his prices has not helped.

He says, after 35 years in the trade, he cannot just abandon his job.

"We are scared of the flu," he said.  He adds that there is nothing he can do, it is his job to sell chickens so he cannot just stop selling them.

Meanwhile, his employee is plucking a chicken without wearing rubber gloves.  Others lie on top of the cages, many of which are now empty, because Idrissa does not want to buy new chickens.

Idrissa says people are even afraid of walking by his coop at the entrance to the market.

"Before the flu people would come into the market and look around casually⁸ and then choose what they wanted," he said.  "Now they do not come anymore and a lot of people walk the long way round to get into the market.

Roughly 50 meters away, past the vegetable section, fishmongers are scaling their produce.  Demand in fish has gone up, and has created a shortage.  Wholesale⁹ fish prices have risen by about 30 percent.  Traders are finding it difficult to pass the premium¹⁰ on to customers.

Fish seller Christine Kouadia laments¹¹ that bird flu has made it much harder for her to make a living.

She says it is not good.  She says fish is expensive now and she cannot make a profit. 

The World Health Organization has promised to assist the Ivorian government to stop the spread of bird flu.  Government officials have already started informing chicken traders on the measures they are taking.

No human cases of bird flu have been detected in West Africa.

1 slaughtering   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The Revolutionary Tribunal went to work, and a steady slaughtering began. 革命法庭投入工作，持续不断的大屠杀开始了。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
• \"Isn't it terrific slaughtering pigs? “宰猪的！ 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

2 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

3 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

4 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。

5 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

6 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

7 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

8 casually   

adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地

参考例句：

• She remarked casually that she was changing her job.她当时漫不经心地说要换工作。
• I casually mentioned that I might be interested in working abroad.我不经意地提到我可能会对出国工作感兴趣。

9 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。

10 premium   

n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的

参考例句：

• You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快递你得付额外费用。
• Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水库被污染之后，清水便因稀而贵了。

11 laments   

n.悲恸，哀歌，挽歌( lament的名词复数 )v.（为…）哀悼，痛哭，悲伤( lament的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• In the poem he laments the destruction of the countryside. 在那首诗里他对乡村遭到的破坏流露出悲哀。
• In this book he laments the slight interest shown in his writings. 在该书中他慨叹人们对他的著作兴趣微弱。 来自辞典例句