2007年VOA标准英语-Scientists Begin Expedition to Trace Source of

By Arjun Kohli
Nairobi
09 August 2007

Scientists have arrived in Uganda's capital Kampala to prepare for an investigation¹ into tracking the source of the latest outbreak of the deadly Marburg virus in western Uganda. Arjun Kohli has more on the story from our bureau in Nairobi.

The international group of investigative scientists will enter a remote cave in western Uganda on Monday. The cave is reported to house around five million bats, some of which may be housing the deadly Marburg virus, which comes from the same family as Ebola.

The group hopes to capture at least a thousand bats which they will test in a nearby makeshift laboratory. They may also take blood samples from villagers in the area to check for antibodies that would indicate exposure to Marburg.

Marburg is a rare disease for which there is still no known cure. It causes vomiting², diarrhea and headaches and in severe cases, the central nervous system is attacked and patients may bleed from the ears and eyes. The death rate is estimated at about 25 percent,.

The virus killed a 29-year-old mineworker last month.

A spokesperson from the World Health Organization, Gregory Hertl, tells VOA the scientists will be wearing protective gear to enter the caves, but he adds, there is little chance of the outbreak spreading.

"As far as we understand, this cave in the west of Uganda, and the incubation period for the current cases have almost completely run their course so the chance of any more cases occurring from or based on what has happened in this mine in Uganda are very, very, very slim and you have to touch the blood of another person in order to get infected. The chances of anyone getting infected by just being in Uganda are nil," he explained.

The group of international scientific investigators³ comes from institutes such as the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Doctors Without Borders.

Hertl tells VOA that the mines have been closed down but for the scientific research. Hertl says the expedition is vital given the limited knowledge and exposure scientists have of the hemorrhagic fever and the Marburg virus.

"We still don't know what the reservoir of the Marburg virus is, what kind of animals it lives in, where the virus resides so to speak and certainly if it is in bats as is one of the suppositions and this mine is filled with up to five million bats and workers are continuing to go into the mine to mine for lead and gold that is one an immediate⁴ danger to the miners and two in the longer term the more we know about the behavior of this virus, where it lives, under what conditions it can survive, the more we are able to control it," he said. "When it does infect a human is an extremely dangerous virus, it can kill up to 90 per cent of the people it infects and in past outbreaks it has done that."

The largest Marburg outbreak was in Angola in 2005 when at least 200 people were killed.

1 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

2 vomiting   

吐

参考例句：

• Symptoms include diarrhoea and vomiting. 症状有腹泻和呕吐。
• Especially when I feel seasick, I can't stand watching someone else vomiting." 尤其晕船的时候，看不得人家呕。”

3 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。