2006年VOA标准英语-H5N1 Virus Most Likely Candidate For Avian

By Rosanne Skirble
Washington DC
26 January 2006
 
 
Farmer herds¹ flock of ducks
  
Since the virus was identified in humans three years ago in China, 80 of the 150 people infected have died from the disease. Fears of its spread has led to the slaughter² of 50 million birds. WHO officials warn that H5N1 could trigger a global pandemic.

It is rare for avian influenza³ to move from birds to humans. World Health Organization spokesman Richard Thompson says infection comes directly from contact with sick poultry⁴ or from feces from diseased birds mixed in the soil.

He says those infected so far had been exposed to poultry they didn't know was infected. Farmers or their families come along, and to prepare the animals for consumption they de-feather the birds. He says, "In the act of pulling the feathers off these dead birds, dust flies up, and we believe that inhaling⁵ this dust has led to most of the infections in humans of the virus."

World Health Organization spokesman Dick Thompson   
  
Worldwide outbreaks of a single disease are rare but reoccurring events, having been recorded historically every 10 to 50 years. WHO's Richard Thompson says vigilance - not panic - is in order. "There were three pandemics in the last century. Most people alive today lived through two of them without really noticing them. This wasn't a major trauma⁶ to societies or economies or even to health systems. So pandemics can occur which have relatively⁷ minor⁸ effects."

Others, like the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, killed 40 million people. No one can predict whether H5N1 will trigger such a pandemic, and - if it does - how long it would last or how deadly it would be.

For that to happen, experts say the virus must first mutate, or change so that it could pass easily among humans. Thompson says one way that might happen is if a person with the common, seasonal⁹ influenza virus were also infected with the H5N1 strain. "It is possible that the two viruses could mingle¹⁰ in one cell and from that single cell out would emerge a hybrid¹¹ virus, a virus that had the characteristic of human influenza moving easily from person to person as well as the avian influenza characteristic being unrecognizable to the human immune system."

Thompson says H5N1 - like other strains of influenza virus - is also highly unstable¹², and natural changes could give it the ability to move efficiently¹³ from one person to another. Thompson says a pandemic outbreak is identified by how the virus attacks people. "If, for example," he says "we started to see clusters of human cases - not family members who may have had common environmental exposures, but rather casual contacts - [like] an ambulance driver who took a patient to the hospital or a nurse who had been tending to a patient. That would be a signal to us that this is the kind of clustering of cases that might signal the beginning of a pandemic."

For now, though, the H5N1 virus has apparently¹⁴ not yet passed from person to person, so only those who come into contact with infected birds are at risk. Thompson says the first line of defense¹⁵ is close observation by those raising or living around poultry. "This is the kind of surveillance system that really allows us to first identify how far the disease is spreading and then to rapidly move in and cull¹⁶ birds that might have been exposed and to clean areas to reduce the possibility that humans can become infected even from the droppings of these birds," he says.

WHO is also calling on governments to increase surveillance for early detection and to develop emergency plans to help contain the spread of a highly pathogenic virus.
 
 

1 herds   

兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众

参考例句：

• Regularly at daybreak they drive their herds to the pasture. 每天天一亮他们就把牲畜赶到草场上去。
• There we saw herds of cows grazing on the pasture. 我们在那里看到一群群的牛在草地上吃草。

2 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

3 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。

4 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?

5 inhaling   

v.吸入( inhale的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was treated for the effects of inhaling smoke. 他因吸入烟尘而接受治疗。 来自辞典例句
• The long-term effects of inhaling contaminated air is unknown. 长期吸入被污染空气的影响还无从知晓。 来自互联网

6 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

7 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。

8 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

9 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。

10 mingle   

vt.使混合，使相混；vi.混合起来；相交往

参考例句：

• If we mingle with the crowd,we should not be noticed.如果我们混在人群中，就不会被注意到。
• Oil will not mingle with water.油和水不相融。

11 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

12 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

13 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。

14 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

15 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。

16 cull   

v.拣选；剔除；n.拣出的东西；剔除

参考例句：

• It is usually good practice to cull the poorest prior to field planting.通常在实践上的好方法是在出圃栽植前挑出最弱的苗木。
• Laura was passing around photographs she'd culled from the albums at home.劳拉正在分发她从家里相册中挑选出的相片。