美国国家公共电台 NPR Zika No Longer Global 'Health Emergency,' WHO Declares

Zika No Longer Global 'Health Emergency,' WHO Declares 

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The World Health Organization said today it no longer considers the Zika epidemic² a global public health emergency. But as NPR's Michaeleen Doucleff reports, WHO says the threat the virus poses to pregnant women and babies is not going away anytime soon.

MICHAELEEN DOUCLEFF, BYLINE³: Back in January, Zika shocked the world. Babies in Brazil were born with extremely small heads, a condition called microcephaly. And it looked like a mosquito-borne virus was the culprit. WHO's director-general Dr. Margaret Chan said this was a first.

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MARGARET CHAN: The possibility that a mosquito bite could be linked to severe fetal malformations alarmed the public and astonished scientists.

DOUCLEFF: As a result, WHO declared a public health emergency. And scientists from all over the world came together to figure out what was happening. They worked fast and quickly showed that Zika can cause severe prenatal brain damage and other birth defects like blindness and deafness.

Now that the link between Zika and microcephaly is better understood, WHO says the response to the epidemic needs to change. It's no longer an emergency situation. Instead, Dr. Pete Salama says, it's clear, Zika is a chronic⁴ problem.

PETE SALAMA: It's really important that we communicate this very clearly. We are not downgrading the importance of Zika. In fact, by placing this as a longer-term program of work, we're sending the message that Zika is here to stay. And WHO's response is here to stay in a very robust⁵ manner.

DOUCLEFF: In other words, Zika is still spreading. Just this week, Argentina reported its first case of Zika-linked microcephaly. And Florida continues to report cases of Zika being caught inside the state. Dr. Thomas Frieden of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says pregnant women and their partners still need to pay attention to where they go.

THOMAS FRIEDEN: Regardless of how WHO defines this, Zika is unprecedented⁶. And it's an extraordinary risk for pregnant women. That's why it's important that pregnant women not travel to places where Zika is spreading.

DOUCLEFF: That includes countries across Latin America, the Caribbean, parts of Southeast Asia and neighborhoods in Miami. Frieden says these travel restrictions⁷ will likely be the new normal for a while, at least until we have a vaccine⁸, which will likely take a few years. Michaeleen Doucleff, NPR News.

1 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

2 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。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

5 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

6 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。

7 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

8 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。