VOA慢速英语2014 狗狗接种疫苗可以消除狂犬病

Mass Vaccination¹ of Dogs Can Eliminate Rabies 狗狗接种疫苗可以消除狂犬病

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语健康报道。

In the United States, we often say that “dogs are a man’s best friend.” While it is true that dogs are popular pets, it is also true that in some parts of the world, a dog bite can lead to a painful death.

在美国，我们通常说“狗是人类最好的朋友”。确实狗是很流行的宠物，但在世界上一些地方，被狗咬可能会导致很痛苦地死亡。

In fact, about 70,000 people worldwide die every year of rabies. Rabies is a viral infection that people get mainly through dog bites.

事实上，全世界每年有7万多人死于狂犬病，狂犬病是一种病毒性感染病，人主要是通过被狗咬传染上的。

Rabies is uncommon² in the West. But in India, and other parts of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, dogs that have not received anti-rabies vaccine³ continue to threaten public health.

A rabies death is a painful process. After a rabid dog bites someone, the virus invades the person’s central nervous system. Victims develop a severe and irrational⁴ fear of water. They convulse, or shake violently. Then they go into a coma⁵ and almost always die.

狂犬病在西方很少见，但在印度、亚洲其他地区和撒哈拉南部非洲，没有接受过狂犬疫苗的狗会造成公共健康威胁。死于狂犬病是很痛苦的过程，在患上狂犬病的狗咬了人后，病毒会侵入人的中枢神经系统。受害者会非常害怕水，他们会抽搐，也就是剧烈摇动，然后会昏迷不醒，然后一般会死掉。

However, the rabies virus is not immediately active in the human body. It is usually inactive for at least 10 days after a bite. Sometimes it remains⁶ silent for months. This is called an incubation period. During incubation, vaccination can still prevent infection.

Scientists say vaccinating⁷ dogs can effectively get rid of rabies outbreaks in dog populations. And this will have a domino effect – vaccinating dogs with rabies means fewer humans with rabies.

然而，狂犬病毒不会立即在人体内活跃起来，通常至少在被咬后10天内不会被激活。有时会保持潜伏数月，这就称作潜伏期，在潜伏期，疫苗仍能预防感染。

But many developing countries do not have dog vaccination systems in place. So, rabies still kills 70,000 people around the world every year. Most victims are children.

科学家说注射过疫苗的狗在狗群中能有效地摆脱库狂犬病爆发的困扰，这会产生多米诺效应，给患上狂犬病的狗注射疫苗意味着更少的人患上狂犬病。

Animal scientists are calling for mass vaccination of dogs as a way to get rid of rabies.

但很多发展中国家仍未建立起狗免疫系统，所以每年全世界仍有7万人死于狂犬病，大多数受害者是儿童。

Dogs in a bicycle basket about to get their rabies vaccination in Tanzania at a clinic run by Dr. Guy Palmer.

动物科学家呼吁进行大规模的狗类免疫，从而摆脱狂犬病。

One example of where this worked very well is in the African country of Tanzania. Public health officials there set up dog vaccination centers in 180 villages. Before the vaccination centers were set up, there were, on average, 50 rabies deaths every year in Tanzania. After the centers began working, that number dropped to nearly zero.

这方面做得好的一个样板是非洲的坦桑尼亚，该国的公共卫生官员在180个村庄建立了狗免疫中心。在这类中心建立起来之前，坦桑尼亚平均每年出现50个狂犬病死亡案例。在免疫中心投入运行后，这个数字降低到几乎为零。

Guy Palmer is director of the School for Global Animal Health at Washington State University. He co-authored the study in Tanzania.

Guy Palmer是华盛顿州立大学全球动物卫生学院主任，他是对坦桑尼亚研究的联合作者。

Mr. Palmer says researchers found that immunizing 70 percent of dogs wiped out rabies as a human threat. 

他说研究者发现将70%的狗免疫就可彻底消除狂犬病对人类的威胁。

“Before that, people had said, ‘Well, the dogs are running wild.’  We’ve shown that, in fact, that’s not true. These dogs tend to have owners, so they are available for vaccination. We can get 70 percent coverage⁸.” 

“在此之前，人们说，‘这些狗都是野狗。’我们发现事实上并非如此，这些狗一般都是有主人的，所以它们能获得免疫，我们已经将免疫覆盖到70%的狗。”

Mr. Palmer says 40 percent of those who get rabies from dogs in Africa and Asia are children.

Palmer说，非洲和亚洲那些感染狂犬病的人有40%是儿童。

Mr. Palmer wrote a report on the subject for Science magazine. It says that rabies could be permanently⁹ ended within 10 years. The scientists suggest using a method called “One Health.”  The method brings together people doctors and animal doctors, or veterinarians. They immunize dogs against rabies and treat dog-bite victims.

Palmer为《科学》杂志就该课题撰写了一份报告，报告称可以在10年内彻底消灭狂犬病，科学家们建议使用名为“一健康”的方法。该方法将人类医生和兽医召集在一起，他们给狗注射狂犬病疫苗，并给被狗咬的患者提供治疗。

“This is not something that requires 10 to 20 years of basic research to develop a vaccine.  We have a vaccine that works perfectly¹⁰.  It’s really an implementation¹¹ strategy, and a desire to do so.  And one of the benefits is that any implementation strategy like this strengthens those infrastructures¹² within the most vulnerable communities and countries.”

“并不是需要做10到20年的基础研究来开发一种疫苗，我们有效果很好的疫苗，这是一个实施战略，和愿意这么做的愿望。其中的一个益处就是，这类实施战略加强了最易受害社区和国家的基础设施。”

Mr. Palmer says a successful anti-rabies campaign strengthens medical systems. And this could have a positive domino effect when fighting other deadly diseases, such as Ebola. 

Palmer说成功的抗狂犬病运动能加强医疗系统，在对付如埃博拉等致命疾病时能产生积极的多米诺效应。

Words in this Story

irrational – adj. not thinking clearly; not able to use reason or good judgment¹³

convulse – v. to have an experience in which the muscles in your body shake in a sudden, violent way that you are not able to control

coma – n. a state of deep unconsciousness that lasts for a prolonged or indefinite period, caused especially by severe injury or illness

incubation period – n. the period between exposure to an infection and the appearance of the first symptoms

veterinary – adj. relating to the medical care and treatment of animals. A veterinarian is a doctor for animals

domino effect - n. a situation in which one event causes a series of similar events to happen one after another

1 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

2 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

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 irrational   

adj.无理性的，失去理性的

参考例句：

• After taking the drug she became completely irrational.她在吸毒后变得完全失去了理性。
• There are also signs of irrational exuberance among some investors.在某些投资者中是存在非理性繁荣的征象的。

5 coma   

n.昏迷，昏迷状态

参考例句：

• The patient rallied from the coma.病人从昏迷中苏醒过来。
• She went into a coma after swallowing a whole bottle of sleeping pills.她吃了一整瓶安眠药后就昏迷过去了。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 vaccinating   

给…接种疫苗( vaccinate的现在分词 )； 注射疫苗，接种疫苗

参考例句：

• At first blush, vaccinating the wolves against rabies seems a simple solution. 乍一看来，为狼群注射防狂犬病疫苗是一种简单的办法。
• Also vaccinating children against misers (measles) has saved many lives. 还有，给儿童进行疫苗接种防止麻疹也挽救了许多生命。

8 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

9 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

10 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

11 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

12 infrastructures   

n.基础设施( infrastructure的名词复数 )；基础结构；行政机构；秘密机构

参考例句：

• Public transportation termini and depots are important infrastructures for a city. 公交场站设施是城市重要的基础设施。 来自互联网
• The increasingly fast urbanization process requires more and more infrastructures. 我国城市化进程不断加快，对城市基础设施的需求也越来越大。 来自互联网

13 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。