VOA标准英语2009-First Recorded Dengue Fever Epidemic Hits Ca

By Ricci Shryock
Dakar
12 November 2009

Red Cross officials say an outbreak of dengue fever in Cape¹ Verde is the worst ever in West Africa.

 
Hospitals in Cape Verde are running out of room for their patients this week, says the Red Cross' West and Central Africa Health Coordinator² Anders Naucler, as the country deals with the biggest dengue fever epidemic³ it has ever seen.

"The national hospital here is overcrowded, yes, by patients, and they have raised a tent outside to make a triage of the patients, so some patients can be sent home, and some patients have to be observed so to look for hemorrhagic fever," Naucler said.

Cape Verde first reported cases of dengue fever in September and the epidemic has spread to more than 13,700 cases, say Red Cross officials.

Dengue fever, which is spread by mosquitoes, displays symptoms similar to malaria⁴. The patient may experience headache, fever, fatigue⁵ and severe muscle pain.

Naucler adds the danger is when patients acquire the potentially fatal dengue hemorrhagic fever.

"The dangers of dengue are serious," Naucler said. "If you get hemorrhage syndromes⁷, and then you can, it can lead that you get into hemorrhagic shock syndrome⁶, where you get hypertension and all these things. It is really a disease that you have to observe all the time when you are sick."

Naucler says area hospitals are clinically managing the outbreak well, but the importance lies is future prevention tactics.

"They have gone out for campaigns already and to cleaning up compounds with stagnated⁸ water and garbage and things like that, but this is things that everybody, the mentality⁹ has to be inside of everyone in here, they have to take care of their garbage, things like that," Naucler said.

Six people have reportedly died from the outbreak. Senegal also confirmed the existence of 19 cases of dengue fever this week. 

1 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

2 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

3 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

4 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

5 fatigue   

n.疲劳，劳累

参考例句：

• The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
• I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。

6 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

7 syndromes   

n.综合征( syndrome的名词复数 )；（某种条件下有共同特征的）一系列表现（事件、举动等）

参考例句：

• Other agents can cause similar syndromes. 其它病原也可引起相似的综合症。 来自辞典例句
• They have pointed out the similarities of the sprue syndromes in man and TGE. 他们强调了人的鹅口疮综合症和TGE的共同点。 来自辞典例句

8 stagnated   

v.停滞，不流动，不发展( stagnate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The balloting had stagnated, he couldn't win. 投票工作陷于停顿，他不能得胜。 来自辞典例句
• His mind has stagnated since his retirement. 他退休后头脑迟钝了。 来自辞典例句

9 mentality   

n.心理，思想，脑力

参考例句：

• He has many years'experience of the criminal mentality.他研究犯罪心理有多年经验。
• Running a business requires a very different mentality from being a salaried employee.经营企业所要求具备的心态和上班族的心态截然不同。