2006年VOA标准英语-US Officials Stress Surveillance in Fight

By Stephanie Ho
Washington
02 March 2006

U.S. officials say they are working to step up global efforts to detect and contain outbreaks of the bird flu virus as soon as they occur. The virus has so far infected 174 people and spread to birds in more than 30 countries.

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Four of the top U.S. public health officials testified Thursday before a House Appropriations¹ Committee subcommittee. Their basic message was the same - contain a potential human bird flu pandemic as soon as possible, before it comes to the United States.

  
  
The U.S. Agency for International Development's Kent Hill said he is concerned the chances for the virus to infect humans increases as it moves around the world.

"With the spread of the number of countries that have significant outbreaks of some sort, obviously there's more contacts with human beings, and that increases the likelihood, or possibility, I should put it, of something happening that we don't want to happen, which is, of course, a global human pandemic," he said.

He said accurate surveillance of bird flu outbreaks is crucial to global efforts to combat the virus. As an example, he pointed² to Nigeria.

"On January 10th, they reported massive bird die-offs, but they were misdiagnosed as to the cause," he said. "It was not until February that it was confirmed internationally that, indeed it was H5N1. So, several weeks had passed before they even realized what had happened. That was several weeks in which the spread could occur. It's no mystery why, this week, it appeared in Niger, just to the north. So, we think it's probably in many places in Africa already." 
 
 
Dr. Julie Gerberding, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, right, director of National Institute of Allergy³ and Infectious Diseases, use a computer on Capitol Hill March 2, 2006, during appearance before House appropriations subcommittee hearing
  
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Julie Gerberding told the subcommittee that her agency is among those helping⁴ other countries that need it develop a public health system able to detect bird flu.

"There's a lot of black boxes out there, where something could emerge, and it's going to take us awhile to find it," she said. "We'll plug them as quickly as we can, but we just don't have a seamless network yet. And we're only as strong as our weakest link."

In order to mobilize a faster response, she added that her agency is in the process of building 18 regional centers around the world.

"We have several of them already, including one in Kenya," she said. "And when the problems emerged in Nigeria, CDC was able to send its Kenyan response team over to Nigeria to be on the ground much more quickly than we could get people from Atlanta [CDC Headquarters], over there to assist with the WHO response capability⁵."

Meanwhile, the State Department's Nancy Powell said the United States, Canada and Mexico are discussing what they will do should there be a bird flu outbreak in North America.

1 appropriations   

n.挪用（appropriation的复数形式）

参考例句：

• More commonly, funding controls are imposed in the annual appropriations process. 更普遍的作法是，拨款控制被规定在年度拨款手续中。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Should the president veto the appropriations bill, it goes back to Congress. 假如总统否决了这项拨款提案，就把它退还给国会。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

2 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

3 allergy   

n.(因食物、药物等而引起的)过敏症

参考例句：

• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。
• The patient had an allergy to penicillin.该患者对青霉素过敏。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。