Humans must guard against animal disease risk

 　　BEIJING, July 1 (Xinhuanet) -- China must adopt a holistic¹ approach to addressing food safety challenges connected to the risk of contracting infectious diseases from contact with animals, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.

　　Peter Ben Embarek, food safety officer at WHO's China office, said the country faces risks connected to the need to produce more meat, eggs and milk to feed its growing population. He said the increased production will ramp² up the risk of people being infected by food-borne diseases because of poor slaughtering⁴ oversight⁵ and the absence of proper surveillance and inspection⁶ systems.

　　About 50 percent of pigs in China are slaughtered⁷ outside of formal facilities without the inspection of veterinarians or food safety officers. He said poorly trained producers have little or no awareness⁸ of food safety or the risk of animal diseases being passed on to humans.

　　Such an environment could lead to the emergence⁹ of a new pandemic of influenza¹⁰.

　　During the past 60 years, 30 percent of the 335 new infectious diseases worldwide were transmitted through food, he said.

　　Yet in many parts of China, public awareness remains¹¹ low about such things.

　　Xu Aixiang, a 35-year-old resident of Rizhao city in Shandong province, prefers to buy live poultry¹² at local markets. Like many of her neighbors, she takes the chickens she buys home to slaughter³ them.

　　"I get fresher chickens that are better quality this way," she said. "When vendors¹³ sell slaughtered chickens, the meat is no longer fresh and may have had water injected into it to make it heavier."

　　But Ben Embarek cautioned that such live-animal markets are high-risk places for the exchange of viruses and diseases between animals and humans.

　　He said simple and cost-effective measures can be taken to improve such markets' hygiene¹⁴ standards, such as the installation of separate areas to keep live poultry away from customers as well as improving air flow and waste management.

　　Several UN agencies, including the WHO and the Food and Agriculture Organization, called on China to adopt an integrated approach to preventing emerging epidemic¹⁵ diseases and maintaining ecosystem¹⁶ integrity at an event themed "One Health" that convened¹⁷ on Wednesday in Beijing.

　　At the gathering¹⁸, representatives from the Ministry¹⁹ of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention shared experiences from efforts to mitigate²⁰ the H5N1 and H1N1 influenza outbreaks in China and said they were committed to working together in the future.

　　Su Jingliang, an associate professor of preventive veterinary medicine at China Agricultural University, said his lab had detected the outbreak of a new type of flavivirus in ducks that led to a significant fall in egg production at farms in Beijing as well as in Hebei, Jiangxi and Shandong provinces. The pandemic was brought under control in March.

　　No cases of humans contracting the disease have been reported so far but Su said he was concerned about the possibility of farmers becoming infected through close contact and long exposure to sick ducks.

　　He said precautionary measures should be taken in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and other government agencies and checks should be run on people who are at high risk.

　　Xu Wei contributed to this story.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 holistic   

adj.从整体着眼的，全面的

参考例句：

• There is a fundamental ambiguity in the use of word "whole" in recent holistic literature.在近代的整体主义著作中，“整体”这个词的用法极其含混。
• In so far as historicism is technological,its approach is not piecemeal,but "holistic".仅就历史决定论是一种技术而论，它的方法不是渐进的，而是“整体主义的”。

2 ramp   

n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速

参考例句：

• That driver drove the car up the ramp.那司机将车开上了斜坡。
• The factory don't have that capacity to ramp up.这家工厂没有能力加速生产。

3 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

4 slaughtering   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The Revolutionary Tribunal went to work, and a steady slaughtering began. 革命法庭投入工作，持续不断的大屠杀开始了。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
• \"Isn't it terrific slaughtering pigs? “宰猪的！ 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

5 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

6 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

7 slaughtered   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The invading army slaughtered a lot of people. 侵略军杀了许多人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Hundreds of innocent civilians were cruelly slaughtered. 数百名无辜平民遭残杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 awareness   

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 emergence   

n.浮现，显现，出现，（植物）突出体

参考例句：

• The last decade saw the emergence of a dynamic economy.最近10年见证了经济增长的姿态。
• Language emerges and develops with the emergence and development of society.语言是随着社会的产生而产生，随着社会的发展而发展的。

10 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。

11 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。

12 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?

13 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

14 hygiene   

n.健康法，卫生学 （a.hygienic）

参考例句：

• Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。
• He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。

15 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

16 ecosystem   

n.生态系统

参考例句：

• This destroyed the ecosystem of the island.这样破坏了岛上的生态系统。
• We all have an interest in maintaining the integrity of the ecosystem.维持生态系统的完整是我们共同的利益。

17 convened   

召开( convene的过去式 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合

参考例句：

• The chairman convened the committee to put the issue to a vote. 主席召集委员们开会对这个问题进行表决。
• The governor convened his troops to put down the revolt. 总督召集他的部队去镇压叛乱。

18 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

19 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

20 mitigate   

vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和

参考例句：

• The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
• Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。