2006年VOA标准英语-Poultry Farmers in Nigeria Battle Bird Flu

By Gilbert Da Costa
Abidjan
14 February 2006

Reports that the bird flu virus is spreading in Nigeria is putting tremendous pressure on poultry¹ farmers in the West African country.

Birds for sale on Lagos street   
  
These are very difficult times for poultry farmers in Nigeria. A visit to a poultry farm outside Abuja Tuesday revealed most farmers are taking the outbreak of bird flu very seriously.
 
A big black iron gate at the entrance of this farm was closed and virtually no one was being allowed in.

Farm workers wore  thick, red gloves for protection against contamination.
 
Farm Manager Yusuf Mohammed talks about other measures to prevent the spread of the bird flu virus among the 20,000 chickens at the farm.
 
"Apart from wearing gloves, rainboots and face masks, the first one is that we don't allow anybody access to the farm, and even I myself whenever I come in, I [...] disinfect myself," Yusuf said. "And for our eggs,when we took eggs outside, on bringing back the empty crates³, we [...] spray on them before so that there won't be any problem and if it happens that one of our customers bring in his own empty crate², we keep it outside or disinfect it before bringing it in into the farm. And whenever we notice that there is any of our birds that is looking sick, we [...] take it outside, that is, isolate⁴ it."
 
Chicken has always been a major meat source in Nigeria but sales have crashed  in the wake of the deadly bird flu attack.
 
Agriculture Minister Adamu Bello says consumers could still enjoy their chicken if well prepared.

A boy holds a chicken in Birnin Yaro, a small village behind Sambawa farms, where Nigeria's first bird flu case was reported near Kaduna  
  
"Chicken which is well cooked doesn't transmit avian influenza⁵, once it is cooked. I urge people to cook their food properly. Any chicken you get now, even if its healthy chicken, please cook it well," he said.
 
The Nigerian authorities say they are investigating reports that the bird flu virus may have spread to five more states including the capital Abuja.
 
Analysts say this suggest that the authorities are yet to have a firm grip on the spread of the virus.
 
Some experts say Nigeria, which reported Africa's first cases of the disease in birds, may not have done enough to stop the spread of the disease which has killed more than 90  people since 2003, mostly in Asia. 

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 crate   

vt.(up)把…装入箱中；n.板条箱，装货箱

参考例句：

• We broke open the crate with a blow from the chopper.我们用斧头一敲就打开了板条箱。
• The workers tightly packed the goods in the crate.工人们把货物严紧地包装在箱子里。

3 crates   

n. 板条箱, 篓子, 旧汽车 vt. 装进纸条箱

参考例句：

• We were using crates as seats. 我们用大木箱作为座位。
• Thousands of crates compacted in a warehouse. 数以千计的板条箱堆放在仓库里。

4 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。

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。