2006年VOA标准英语-US Health Officials Stress Global Cooperat

By Claudia Blume
Hong Kong
24 January 2006

Senior U.S. health officials say that in addition to preparing medical professionals at home for a possible avian influenza¹ pandemic, they are emphasizing global cooperation in the fight against the virus. The officials were presenting Washington's role in global flu preparations to experts from Taiwan and Hong Kong.

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The health officials, in a videoconference with Asian medical experts Tuesday, stressed their commitment to tackling bird flu in partnership² with Asian authorities and presented the U.S. preparedness plan.

Washington's plan involves stockpiling vaccines⁴ and antiviral drugs, and coordinating⁵ federal, state and local responses. It brings together the medical and veterinary communities, government officials and the private sector⁶.

Dr. Bruce Gellin, director of the U.S. National Vaccine³ Program Office, said Tuesday his country had learned a lot from how Asian nations tackled the SARS epidemic⁷ of 2003.

"Your collective experience with SARS shows that the frontline of defense⁸ are traditional public health measures. I think that teaches us a lot," he said.

But Dr. Gellin stressed that national preparedness plans need to be coordinated⁹ with the global response, and therefore the U.S. plan also aims to ensure all human and animal outbreaks are detected.

Dr. Gellin added that it was vital to continue financial and technical assistance to the countries hardest-hit by avian influenza.
 

Wang Xiaolong, left, deputy director general of China's Ministry¹⁰ of Foreign Affairs, sits with other officials while attending the opening ceremony of the conference  
  
At an international bird flu conference in Beijing last week, Washington pledged to put more than $330 million into a global pool to help those nations.

The U.S. assistant secretary for health, Dr. John Agwunobi, said during Tuesday's videoconference that the bulk of the investment was intended for Southeast Asia.

But as bird flu has already hit Turkey and could spread further, Dr. Agwunobi says the response of the U.S. government needs to be flexible.

"We like to use the analogy, the concept of a forest fire where the world is a large forest and a small spark occurs in a particular part of this forest," he said. "If we have an opportunity to aggressively throw all our resources at that spark and put out that fire, we will do so. However, if we sense that the spark has gone beyond its initial circle and is now spreading rapidly around the planet our strategy might have to change."

Dr. Agwunobi said transparency is critical in developing a global response to avian flu. He praised Hong Kong for sharing information about the virus and said China has become more transparent¹¹ about bird flu outbreaks.

At least 80 people have died from avian influenza since 2003. All those infected have caught the disease from birds, but experts worry the H5N1 virus could mutate into a form easily transmissible between humans, sparking a pandemic.

1 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。

2 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

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 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。

5 coordinating   

v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的现在分词 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• He abolished the Operations Coordinating Board and the Planning Board. 他废除了行动协调委员会和计划委员会。 来自辞典例句
• He's coordinating the wedding, and then we're not going to invite him? 他是来协调婚礼的，难道我们不去请他？ 来自电影对白

6 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

7 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。

8 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。

9 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

10 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。

11 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。