VOA慢速英语20060809b

HEALTH REPORT - Indonesia Passes Vietnam as Nation With Most Bird Flu DeathsBy Caty Weaver¹

Broadcast: Wednesday, August 09, 2006

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.


Indonesia

Indonesia passed Vietnam this week as the country with the highest confirmed number of human deaths from bird flu. It happened Monday when a sixteen-year-old boy from West Java died in a hospital in Jakarta. That brought the number of deaths to forty-three.

On Tuesday Indonesian officials reported another death. They said a girl, also sixteen, died in a hospital west of the capital.

Vietnamese officials have reported no cases of bird flu in humans so far this year. Vietnam has had forty-two confirmed deaths from the H-five-N-one virus.

There are concerns that people illegally bringing chickens and other poultry² into Vietnam could undo³ measures taken to control the virus.

But Indonesia is of special concern because that country has had a number of human cases close together. In all, Indonesia has had almost one hundred sixty cases of bird flu in humans. All have been reported since last year.

Last week, Indonesia agreed to make public the genetic⁴ information of the H-five-N-one viruses that have killed Indonesians. The World Health Organization received permission to share the genetic sequences⁵ with non-W.H.O. scientists and laboratories⁶.

Scientists are studying the virus as it spreads. They are watching for any genetic changes that might let it pass easily between people.

The deaths in Indonesia and Vietnam represent, together, more than sixty percent of all deaths from bird flu. There have been about one hundred forty deaths out of around two hundred forty cases since late two thousand three.


Thai officials at a chicken farm in Nakhon Phanom province

Thailand has reported two deaths from bird flu in the last two weeks. These were the first confirmed human cases in Thailand this year. As a result, workers have destroyed hundreds of thousands of farm birds. Thai officials also declared twenty-nine of the seventy-six provinces as bird flu emergency areas.

The declaration⁷ means the government can provide financial help to farmers whose birds are destroyed.

In another development, China confirmed Tuesday that its first human case of bird flu was in two thousand three. That is two years earlier than China had reported. The Health Ministry⁸ says it did not know until recently that tests of the man's blood showed he had the virus.

In June, Chinese medical researchers reported the two thousand three case in a letter to the New England Journal⁹ of Medicine.

And that's the Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver. Archives of our reports are at www.unsv.com. I'm Steve Ember.

1 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

2 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

3 undo   

vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销

参考例句：

• His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
• I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。

4 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

5 sequences   

n.后果( sequence的名词复数 )；（纸牌中的）顺牌；有关联的一组事物；（电影中表现同一主题或场面的）一组镜头

参考例句：

• The appendix explored two possible mission sequences. 增加的部分将探测两种可能的系列任务。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• We shall study a very particular kind of sequences, called convergent sequences. 我们将研究称为收敛数列的很特别的一类数列。 来自辞典例句

6 laboratories   

n.实验室( laboratory的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• For, eight years, Marie Curie worked in cold laboratories with poor equipment. 整整八年，居里夫人在设备简陋、冰冷的实验室里做着实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• Some commercial laboratories use periodic nitrate tests as guides. 许多商业性的试验室已应用定期的硝态氮分析作为指导。 来自辞典例句

7 declaration   

n.宣布，宣告，宣言，声明（书），申报

参考例句：

• We read the declaration posted on the bulletin board.我们读了贴在布告板上的声明。
• At the recent convention a declaration was adopted.在最近举行的大会上通过了一项宣言。

8 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

9 journal   

n.日志，日记；议事录；日记帐；杂志，定期刊物

参考例句：

• He kept a journal during his visit to Japan.他在访问日本期间坚持记日记。
• He got a job as editor of a trade journal.他找到了一份当商业杂志编辑的工作。