2007年VOA标准英语-WHO: Indonesia Not Sharing Bird Flu Virus Sampl

By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
06 August 2007

The World Health Organization says all countries, with the exception of Indonesia, are sharing their avian influenza¹ viruses. WHO says the failure to share virus samples could retard² the development of an effective bird flu vaccine³ and could increase the dangers of a potential pandemic. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva.

David Heymann, WHO Assistant Director-General for Communicable Diseases (file photo)

The World Health Assembly passed a resolution requiring all countries to share their avian influenza viruses. WHO Assistant Director-General for Communicable Diseases, David Heymann, says countries that do not share viruses are not in compliance⁴ with that resolution.

He tells VOA it is important for governments to share viruses they isolate⁵ from humans because the virus mutates in an unpredictable manner.

"So, by not sharing viruses, Indonesia is actually harming two things," said Dr. Haymann. "It is putting in danger its own population because if those viruses are not freely shared with industry, vaccines⁶ will not contain the elements of the Indonesia infections."

"And, the second thing that Indonesia is doing is, therefore, putting the whole world at risk, the public health security of the world at risk because they are not sharing viruses," he added. 

Dr. Heymann says the Indonesian government is aware of these issues. He says he is hopeful that Indonesia will fall in line, but there is no guarantee this will happen.

Indonesia suspended its voluntary transfer of avian flu virus samples to the World Health Organization early this year. It complained pharmaceutical⁷ companies in western countries were using its viruses to develop a vaccine and that developing countries would not benefit from this research.

Dr. Heymann says WHO is developing ways to make sure the benefits from a vaccine would be broadly shared. He says this has already begun. WHO has a stockpile of 50 million doses of available H5N1 vaccines, which would be distributed to countries in need.

He says WHO also is helping⁸ developing countries that want to produce their own vaccines.

"WHO has given grants to six countries in the world, six developing countries, after having received proposals from them to transfer technology using resources that have been provided by the United States, Japan and the Asian Development Bank and Canada," said Dr. Haymann.

"So, WHO is working to help transfer the technology. That would be a sustainable means of making sure that pandemic vaccines were available. And, then in addition developing a mechanism⁹ to be sure that vaccine could be obtained during a pandemic," he continued. 

The countries that have requested help in developing their own bird flu vaccines are Brazil, Mexico, India, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.

The World Health Organization reports 192 people have died from bird flu. Indonesia, with 81 reported deaths, is the most severely¹⁰ affected¹¹ country.

So far, avian influenza is a largely animal disease. But, WHO warns millions of people could become infected if the H5N1 bird flu virus mutates into a form that could be easily spread from one human to another.

1 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。

2 retard   

n.阻止，延迟；vt.妨碍，延迟，使减速

参考例句：

• Lack of sunlight will retard the growth of most plants.缺乏阳光会妨碍大多数植物的生长。
• Continuing violence will retard negotiations over the country's future.持续不断的暴力活动会阻碍关系到国家未来的谈判的进行。

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 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。

5 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。

6 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。

7 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

10 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

11 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。