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VOA慢速英语2014 AS IT IS 2014-02-20 Mosquitoes and Bats May Carry Disease 蚊子和蝙蝠可能携带疾病

时间:2014-03-02 15:00:38

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AS IT IS 2014-02-20 Mosquitoes and Bats May Carry Disease 蚊子和蝙蝠可能携带疾病

Hello and welcome to another program designed to help you learn and improve your American English.  I’m Jim Tedder1 in Washington.  Today we are concerned with your health.  We have information about a disease that seems to have spread from Africa and Asia into the Western Hemisphere.  If you have mosquitoes near your home, you will need to listen carefully.

Then imagine you are sitting outside near the end of another day.  Every now and then you see something fly above your house very quickly, and make sharp turns.  No, it is not a bird.  It is a bat, and it, too, may be a serious disease carrier.

What are these illnesses?  And how can you protect yourself from them?  We’ll have the answers, next on As It Is.

A painful disease found mainly in Africa and Asia has been discovered in the Western Hemisphere.  The World Health Organization reported last December that two cases of chikungunya were found in the French part of the Caribbean island of Saint Martin.  Since then, the disease has been reported on other islands in the Caribbean.

Chikungunya results from a virus.  It is passed to humans from the bite of an insect -- the mosquito.  The disease can cause a higher than normal body temperature and pain in the head.  It also causes pain in the joints2, which can last for weeks. Chikunguya rarely kills people, but there is no treatment or vaccine3 for the disease.  

The WHO says chikungunya infected many people in the African nation of Gabon, India and islands in the Indian Ocean about 10 years ago.  It spread within Europe for the first time in 2007.

Peter Hotez is the head of the National School of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas.  He says he soon expects to see reports of chikungunya in the southern United States.

“The mosquitoes are here.  That’s an important factor.  Second, there may be some component4 of global warming.”

He says insects carrying the disease are found in places where poverty and development are increasing, such as in the southern United States.

Straw-colored fruit bats are found across much of Africa.  The bats carry two deadly viruses that could spread to people.  While scientists have long known this, they did not know until recently how many of the animals were carriers.

A new study has found that one third of the fruit bats are infected with a virus similar to the one responsible for the viral disease rabies.  And 42 percent carry henipaviruses, which can cause a deadly disease.

The new study was a project of researchers with the University of Cambridge and the Zoological Society of London.  The researchers studied blood and tissue from more than 2,000 bats from 12 African countries.  They found the animals were genetically6 similar -- meaning they travel and live together across the continent.  James Wood of the University of Cambridge says this genetic5 similarity helps speed the spread of the viruses.

 

Fruit bats live in groups of more than 100,000.  These groups often live near cities. In some areas, people hunt the animals for their meat.  Eating bat meat can spread the viruses to humans.  Henipaviruses can also be spread through contact with waste products from bats.

Neither disease has been reported in humans in Africa.  But experts are warning that could change.  Alison Peel helped to prepare a report on the study.  She warns that trying to remove bats from cities could increase the risk of infection.  In her words, “the most appropriate response is ongoing7 studies and public awareness8 to avoid handling bats, and to wash the wound thoroughly9 if you are bitten by a bat.”

The report appeared in the journal Nature Communications.

In December, China reported the death of a woman who it said was the first human to become infected with a new kind of avian influenza10 virus. Researchers are working to learn more about the H10N8 strain of the virus that killed her.  The World Health Organization says the speed at which China reported the case shows the country is getting better at identifying deadly viruses.  The 73-year old woman died late last year, just six days after visiting a poultry11 market in Jiangxi Province.

Bernhard Schwartlander is the WHO’s representative in China.  He says the quick identification of the bird flu that killed the woman shows the increased strength of China’s surveillance system.

“The fact that Chinese authorities detected this case in a 73-year-old woman that had other medical conditions actually shows that the active surveillance system, the active alert system, is actually working quite well.”

The woman often visited markets were live chickens and other poultry were sold.

She was taken to a hospital on November 30 and died December 6th.  She had suffered from high blood pressure and heart disease, which may have kept her body from being able to fight the infection.  Dr. Schwartlander says officials need to watch other people closely to see if the disease has spread.

“Of course, we are always concerned when we see that the virus has actually jumped from one species to another.  And you have to be very careful watching this because every time this happens it has, of course in theory, the potential for a wider spread.”

Last year, about 100 people were infected with the H7N9 strain of bird flu.  Chinese officials reacted quickly with increased testing and reporting of similar cases.

The H10N8 virus had earlier been found in Guangdong Province and lived in poultry for many years.  Dr. Schwartlander says the first human death from the virus is a worrisome development.

“This is the first case that we detected the virus in a human being.”

In 2002 and 2003, some countries criticized China for being slow to release news about Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome12, also known as SARS.  The disease killed more than 700 people.  As health officials followed the disease, the government told reporters in China not to report on SARS. Government officials also did not tell WHO researchers much about the spread of the disease.

Since then, China’s health systems have improved.  But some experts say China must work harder to study laboratory-confirmed infections.

Chinese officials are also closely watching for cases of the H5N1 bird flu virus, which has killed more than 380 people since 2003.  Scientists fear the virus could change and then spread quickly from one person to another.

When it comes to your health, it is always better to know than not to know.  There are more Learning English programs coming your way next, and world news at the beginning of the hour on VOA.  I’m Jim Tedder in Washington.


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1 tedder 2833afc4f8252d8dc9f8cd73b24db55d     
n.(干草)翻晒者,翻晒机
参考例句:
  • Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆?特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
  • Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆?泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网
2 joints d97dcffd67eca7255ca514e4084b746e     
接头( joint的名词复数 ); 关节; 公共场所(尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所) (非正式); 一块烤肉 (英式英语)
参考例句:
  • Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on gas mains. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在煤气的总管道上了。
  • Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on steam pipes. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在蒸气管道上了。
3 vaccine Ki1wv     
n.牛痘苗,疫苗;adj.牛痘的,疫苗的
参考例句:
  • The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
  • She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。
4 component epSzv     
n.组成部分,成分,元件;adj.组成的,合成的
参考例句:
  • Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
  • Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。
5 genetic PgIxp     
adj.遗传的,遗传学的
参考例句:
  • It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
  • Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。
6 genetically Lgixo     
adv.遗传上
参考例句:
  • All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。
  • Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物
7 ongoing 6RvzT     
adj.进行中的,前进的
参考例句:
  • The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
  • The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。
8 awareness 4yWzdW     
n.意识,觉悟,懂事,明智
参考例句:
  • There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
  • Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。
9 thoroughly sgmz0J     
adv.完全地,彻底地,十足地
参考例句:
  • The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
  • The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。
10 influenza J4NyD     
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。
11 poultry GPQxh     
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?
12 syndrome uqBwu     
n.综合病症;并存特性
参考例句:
  • The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
  • Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

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