VOA慢速英语2015 埃博拉导致塞拉利昂狗数量增加

AS IT IS 2015-04-25 Sierra Leone Dog Population Rising Because of Ebola Crisis 埃博拉导致塞拉利昂狗数量增加

The Ebola crisis in Sierra Leone has led to growing concern about another disease: rabies from wild dogs. Many owners fear their dogs could infect them with Ebola, so they have freed the animals. As a result, the stray dog population and number of rabies cases are increasing.

Rabies is spreading in Sierra Leone. The country now has one of the largest stray dog populations in Africa. The situation has become worse during the Ebola crisis.

Doctor Gudosh Jalloh is a veterinarian. In fact, he is one of the country’s few trained experts on animal medicine. He also is a member of the Sierra Leone Animal Welfare Society. The group and local partners have launched a public information campaign on how to care for dogs in the time of Ebola.

Dr. Jalloh estimates there are about 500,000 stray dogs in Sierra Leone. That is double the number before Ebola became a health issue in West Africa. He says one reason for the increase is dog owners dying from Ebola. He says when owners die, other people do not want the dog because they fear it might infect them with the Ebola virus.

Yet health officials in the United States have found that dogs can carry the virus, but cannot infect people. That information comes from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. Jalloh has been traveling around Sierra Leone, telling people that they cannot get Ebola from dogs. He also says there is concern about rabies increasing with this overpopulation. For years, he has been giving free rabies vaccines² to protect people from the disease. He also performs operations to keep the animals from reproducing. His efforts depend mainly on international financing.

During the Ebola crisis, the rabies vaccine¹ was not available in the country for several months because airline companies canceled flights to Sierra Leone. Only recently has he received a rabies vaccine.

“What we really need to do now is to do humane³ dog population control, which will include vaccination⁴, sterilization⁵ and, when necessary, humane culling⁶.”

Mabinty Kamara works with the Freetown city council, which is a partner in the campaign. She says another goal is to reduce animal abuse by making sure communities understand the importance of dogs.

“These animals are very useful to us. You know, at night, we have thieves coming around and dogs will bark at them, so they will be scared. So it is very, very important for us to take care of these animals.”

Ms. Kamara says reaction from the communities has been good. She says most people are following the safety campaign’s advice.

Dr. Jalloh says he will continue to do this kind of work because of his strong interest in animals.

Words in This Story

crisis – n. an extremely important time when something may become much better or worse; a dangerous situation

population – n. all the people (or animals, in this case) in a place, city or country

partner(s) – n. people or organizations taking part in some activity in common with another or others

overpopulation – n. a situation in which too many people or animals live in a given area

1 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。

2 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。

3 humane   

adj.人道的，富有同情心的

参考例句：

• Is it humane to kill animals for food?宰杀牲畜来吃合乎人道吗？
• Their aim is for a more just and humane society.他们的目标是建立一个更加公正、博爱的社会。

4 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。

5 sterilization   

n.杀菌，绝育；灭菌

参考例句：

• Sterilization by filtration is subject to one major theoretical limitation. 过滤灭菌具有一个理论上的局限性。 来自辞典例句
• Sterilization is a treatment that frees the treated object of all living organisms. 灭菌处理是从处理对象排除一切生活的生物。 来自辞典例句

6 culling   

n.选择，大批物品中剔出劣质货v.挑选，剔除( cull的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The mathematicians turned to culling periodic solutions. 数学家们转而去挑选周期解。 来自辞典例句
• It took us a week to find you, a week of culling out prejudice and hatred. 我们花了一个星期的时间找到你们，把偏见和憎恨剔除出去。 来自演讲部分