2006年VOA标准英语-UN Says Pledges Helping Nations Prepare fo

By Luis Ramirez
Beijing
04 April 2006

Dr. David Nabarro, UN's chief coordinator¹ for avian influenza² speaks to journalists in Beijing, China, April 4, 2006   
  
The top UN official for avian influenza says some of the $1.9 billion pledged by nations in January is already reaching nations struggling with the H5N1 virus. His remarks came at the end of a visit to China.

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The U.N. system coordinator for influenza, David Nabarro, said the $1.9 billion pledged by nations and organizations at a donor³ conference in Beijing is reaching far and wide to places where people are battling the spread of H5N1.

"A lot of that money is now being spent in countries, in Indonesia, in Vietnam, in Cambodia, in countries in central and eastern Europe such as Turkey, Nigeria, and also Central Asia," said Nabarro.

The money is meant to fund education and other efforts to prevent the spread of the disease which, the World Health Organization says, has killed at least 107 people since 2003.

The U.N. official earlier told reporters that Africa remains⁴ an area of special concern. He said African nations need more funding and support to fight the disease.

H5N1 has been spreading steadily⁵ in Africa in recent weeks, mainly among domestic poultry⁶, following warnings from world health officials that weak health care infrastructures⁷ and seasonal⁸ bird migrations⁹ might contribute to the spread of the disease.

Officials this week confirmed that Burkina Faso was the fifth African nation to register a case in poultry. Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon have also had outbreaks in birds, while Egypt has confirmed two human deaths from the virus.

Nabarro said the onset¹⁰ of warmer weather in the northern hemisphere is no guarantee that the threat of a further spread has passed, as evidenced by continuing outbreaks in the warm climates of Africa.

The subject of combating avian influenza was also on the agenda for U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who wrapped up a visit to Asia with a stop in Beijing.

The U.S. official said he had discussed with Asian governments the importance of cooperation, to make sure the world is prepared in the event that H5N1 becomes easily passable from human to human.

"We need to start thinking way ahead of such possibility, of what we would do internationally to make sure we address this if it happened, and address this in a way that didn't break our fundamental economic trade and travel systems," said Chertoff.

Almost all of the human cases of H5N1 have involved transmission of the virus from animal to human. Scientists and health officials worry that the disease might mutate and become easily transmissible from human to human, raising the threat of a worldwide pandemic.

1 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

2 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。

3 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

6 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?

7 infrastructures   

n.基础设施( infrastructure的名词复数 )；基础结构；行政机构；秘密机构

参考例句：

• Public transportation termini and depots are important infrastructures for a city. 公交场站设施是城市重要的基础设施。 来自互联网
• The increasingly fast urbanization process requires more and more infrastructures. 我国城市化进程不断加快，对城市基础设施的需求也越来越大。 来自互联网

8 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。

9 migrations   

n.迁移，移居( migration的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It foundered during the turmoils accompanying the Great Migrations. 它在随着民族大迁徙而出现的混乱中崩溃。 来自辞典例句
• Birds also have built-in timepieces which send them off on fall and spring migrations. 鸟类也有天生的时间感应器指导它们秋春迁移。 来自互联网

10 onset   

n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始

参考例句：

• The drug must be taken from the onset of the infection.这种药必须在感染的最初期就开始服用。
• Our troops withstood the onset of the enemy.我们的部队抵挡住了敌人的进攻。