2007年VOA标准英语-Parasitic Disease Heads Toward Extinction

By Carol Pearson
Washington, D.C.
26 June 2007
 

Smallpox¹ was the first infectious disease ever to be eradicated² worldwide.  But now, thanks to a two-decade campaign, guinea worm disease is about to be eradicated as well.  Unlike smallpox, guinea worm disease is being eradicated without drug therapy or a vaccine³.  VOA's Carol Pearson reports.

Twenty years ago, 3.5 million people in developing countries in Africa and Asia had guinea worm disease. The parasitic⁴ infection comes from a worm that can grow up to a meter long before it breaks out of a person's body.  The worm emerges when it is ready to produce larvae⁵. It is painful.  And it can be crippling.  In 1986, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter got involved.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter

"I became obsessed⁶, almost, with the prospect⁷ that the Carter Center could help in eradicating⁸ the disease," says Carter.

The Carter Center led the campaign in its work with the United Nations, heads of state, major corporations, philanthropists and, most importantly, people who lived in some 23,000 rural villages in 22 countries.

"So our task was to go to every one of these villages on earth, and to teach people what caused guinea worm and then to teach them how to avoid having this terrible disease," Carter adds.

Guinea worm disease is caused by drinking water contaminated by guinea worm larvae and the tiny fleas⁹ that swallow the larvae. Once in a person's body, the larvae grow, mature and mate.  The males die off, but the females grow until they are ready to spawn¹⁰.

A guinea worm emerges from a young girl

When the guinea worms break through the skin, relief comes from plunging¹¹ that part of the body into water.  Then the female expels her larvae into the water and cycle continues.

Dr. Donald Hopkins with the Carter Center says the disease has wide-ranging effects.

"It's very painful,” says Hopkins.  “Very long. It takes several weeks to two or three months for the worms to come out, and so people are crippled.  Children can't walk to school. Farmers can't farm. Parent's can't take care of their toddlers."  

To prevent this disease, villagers have learned not to contaminate ponds by jumping into them when guinea worms are coming out of their bodies.  They have learned how to filter their water through a finely woven cloth that prevents tiny fleas and guinea worm larvae from passing through.  Some villagers have opted¹² to treat their ponds with an insecticide.  In other villages, people now get their drinking water from wells. 

Dr. Donald Hopkins

Dr. Hopkins says besides the physical health benefits, the eradication¹³ program has a powerful psychological impact as well.

"They will see that this disease they they've known for generations in their areas has been eliminated by collaborative effort of themselves and a little help from the outside,” explains Hopkins.  “That's important for them, and they will never go back to thinking the same way."

Where the parasite¹⁴ has been eradicated, a report in the New England Journal of Medicine cites increased agricultural productivity, increased employment and a drop in school absenteeism.

Guinea worm disease now exists only in parts of nine African countries.  The Carter Center estimates that the disease will be completely eradicated by 2009.

1 smallpox   

n.天花

参考例句：

• In 1742 he suffered a fatal attack of smallpox.1742年，他染上了致命的天花。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child?你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

2 eradicated   

画着根的

参考例句：

• Polio has been virtually eradicated in Brazil. 在巴西脊髓灰质炎实际上已经根除。
• The disease has been eradicated from the world. 这种疾病已在全世界得到根除。

3 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。

4 parasitic   

adj.寄生的

参考例句：

• Will global warming mean the spread of tropical parasitic diseases?全球变暖是否意味着热带寄生虫病会蔓延呢？
• By definition,this way of life is parasitic.从其含义来说，这是种寄生虫的生活方式。

5 larvae   

n.幼虫

参考例句：

• Larvae are parasitic on sheep.幼虫寄生在绵羊的身上。
• The larvae prey upon small aphids.这种幼虫以小蚜虫为食。

6 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

7 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

8 eradicating   

摧毁，完全根除( eradicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Objective: To study the acute and chronic toxicity of Ten-flavor-acne eradicating-capsule. 目的：探讨复方中药合剂十味平痤胶囊的急性及慢性毒性。
• We are on the verge of eradicating polio in the world. 我们已在世界消除小儿？痹症的边缘了。

9 fleas   

n.跳蚤( flea的名词复数 )；爱财如命；没好气地（拒绝某人的要求）

参考例句：

• The dog has fleas. 这条狗有跳蚤。
• Nothing must be done hastily but killing of fleas. 除非要捉跳蚤，做事不可匆忙。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 spawn   

n.卵，产物，后代，结果；vt.产卵，种菌丝于，产生，造成；vi.产卵，大量生产

参考例句：

• The fish were madly pushing their way upstream to spawn.鱼群为产卵而疯狂地向上游挤进。
• These fish will lay spawn in about one month from now.这些鱼大约一个月内会产卵。

11 plunging   

adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• War broke out again, plunging the people into misery and suffering. 战祸复发，生灵涂炭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He is plunging into an abyss of despair. 他陷入了绝望的深渊。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 opted   

v.选择，挑选( opt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was co-opted onto the board. 她获增选为董事会成员。
• After graduating she opted for a career in music. 毕业后她选择了从事音乐工作。

13 eradication   

n.根除

参考例句：

• The eradication of an established infestation is not easy. 根除昆虫蔓延是不容易的。
• This is often required for intelligent control and eradication. 这经常需要灵巧的控制与消除。

14 parasite   

n.寄生虫；寄生菌；食客

参考例句：

• The lazy man was a parasite on his family.那懒汉是家里的寄生虫。
• I don't want to be a parasite.I must earn my own way in life.我不想做寄生虫，我要自己养活自己。