2006年VOA标准英语-US Health Officials Warn America Must Prep

By Stephanie Ho
Washington
01 January 2006

U.S. health officials acknowledge they do not know if the H5N1 flu virus that has led to the deaths of millions of poultry¹ in Asia and has recently been found in Europe, may well mutate into a version that would spark a worldwide pandemic among humans. They emphasize that being prepared is the best defense².

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US researchers in Wisconsin test the body of a dead wild bird for H5N1 virus  
  

The reason health authorities are so worried about the H5N1 virus is because it is relatively³ lethal⁴. About 70 people have died from the flu, or about half of the more than 140 confirmed human cases.

The head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Julie Gerberding told the CBS television program Face the Nation, Washington wants to be ready for the worst. "We very concerned about the H5N1 influenza⁵ that is in Asia and Eastern Europe right now," she said. "We have no idea whether it will become transmissible from person to another, efficiently⁶. But we have got to take the steps now to get prepared for that."

These steps include a multi-billion dollar federal plan to vaccinate⁷ Americans, acquire anti-viral drugs and develop new vaccines⁹.

Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt told CNN's Late Edition that wild birds continue to spread the virus around the world. "That means that, ultimately, it would find its way to the United States. We need to be prepared," he said. "We also need to be prepared to see a continued stream of people who are infected by contact with those birds."

He emphasized that humans infected with avian flu usually get it from coming into close and prolonged contact with raw poultry, not cooked poultry. He said U.S. authorities are concerned about the current H5N1 virus because it has similar genetic¹⁰ characteristics to the virus that killed millions of people worldwide in 1918. "And what we do know is that the virus continues to mutate, and it will ultimately reach some form that either will burn out, or that some new virus, which is already out there generating, will begin to mutate," he said. "We do not know if it will be this avian H5N1 virus. What we do know is that history tells us, they have happened in the past, they will happen in the future, and we are not prepared. We need to be."

Secretary Leavitt said he is confident U.S. scientists can develop an effective vaccine⁸. The challenge, he added, will be making enough of it, for all Americans, quickly enough. "We have a vaccine that we know produces a sufficient immune response," he said, "but when the actual virus makes that skip or makes that transition into a human to human transmission, it will be a different virus. It will be a cousin to this one. But we know we can make a vaccine. What we do not have is the capacity to replicate¹¹ it fast enough so that every American could have one."

Secretary Leavitt said U.S. officials hope to be able to eventually provide each American with what he described as a "tailor-made" vaccine, within six months of any pandemic virus outbreak.

1 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?

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

4 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

5 influenza   

n.流行性感冒，流感

参考例句：

• They took steps to prevent the spread of influenza.他们采取措施
• Influenza is an infectious disease.流感是一种传染病。

6 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

7 vaccinate   

vt.给…接种疫苗；种牛痘

参考例句：

• Local health officials then can plan the best times to vaccinate people.这样，当地的卫生官员就可以安排最佳时间给人们接种疫苗。
• Doctors vaccinate us so that we do not catch smallpox.医生给我们打预防针使我们不会得天花。

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。

9 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。

10 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。

11 replicate   

v.折叠，复制，模写；n.同样的样品；adj.转折的

参考例句：

• The DNA of chromatin must replicate before cell division.染色质DNA在细胞分裂之前必须复制。
• It is also easy to replicate,as the next subsection explains.就像下一个小节详细说明的那样，它还可以被轻易的复制。