美国、加拿大、墨西哥努力阻止北美洲的猪瘟

US, Canada, Mexico Work to Keep Swine Fever from North America

The United States is working with Canada and Mexico to guard against African swine fever. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue says all three countries are trying to keep swine fever from reaching North America.

The highly infectious disease has already affected¹ hog² populations in China and parts of Europe.

African swine fever can kill hogs³ in just two days. China, home to the world’s largest hog population, has reported more than 100 cases of swine fever since last August. Efforts to contain the disease have affected Chinese supplies of pork, the meat from the animal.

Swine fever has spread to China’s neighbor, Vietnam. Cases have been reported in Eastern Europe, and Belgium found the virus in a wild boar.

If it were to reach the United States, swine fever could affect shipments in the $6.5 billion export market for American pork. The U.S. agriculture industry is already feeling the effect of trade disputes with China and Mexico.

Perdue spoke⁴ at the Department of Agriculture’s yearly Agricultural Outlook Forum⁵ on February 21. Also attending were Canada’s agriculture minister and the Mexican secretary of agriculture.

Perdue said “Sharing the long borders that we do both on the north and south, it’s important that we function together as one.” All the things that go on in the world today will only increase the likelihood of things moving from one nation to another, he added.

The Reuters news agency reports that Smithfield Foods, the world’s biggest pork producer, has increased safety measures at its U.S. farms. In addition, U.S. hog farmers are leaving animal-feed ingredients imported from China in storage in an attempt to keep the disease out.

Since 2013, Smithfield has been a division of WH Group, a Chinese company.

African swine fever was first identified in East Africa in the early 1900s. The disease can spread in many ways, including direct contact between animals, through food and by people infected with the virus. While not harmful to human beings, there is no vaccine⁶ for swine fever.

News of the spread of the disease in Asia has affected agricultural markets, as traders consider the possibility of an increase in U.S. pork exports to China.

Robert Johansson is the chief economist⁷ at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He said chances for increasing pork exports to Asia because of hogs dying from the disease may be overstated.

Johansson predicted that plentiful⁸ supply in the United States would push hog prices down 7.5 percent in 2019.

I’m George Grow.

Words in This Story

function – v. to perform; to work or operate

ingredient – n. a material used with other substances to make something

1 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

2 hog   

n.猪；馋嘴贪吃的人；vt.把…占为己有，独占

参考例句：

• He is greedy like a hog.他像猪一样贪婪。
• Drivers who hog the road leave no room for other cars.那些占着路面的驾驶员一点余地都不留给其他车辆。

3 hogs   

n.（尤指喂肥供食用的）猪( hog的名词复数 )；（供食用的）阉公猪；彻底地做某事；自私的或贪婪的人

参考例句：

• 'sounds like -- like hogs grunting. “像——像是猪发出的声音。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• I hate the way he hogs down his food. 我讨厌他那副狼吞虎咽的吃相。 来自辞典例句

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

6 vaccine   

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。

7 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

8 plentiful   

adj.富裕的，丰富的

参考例句：

• Their family has a plentiful harvest this year.他们家今年又丰收了。
• Rainfall is plentiful in the area.这个地区雨量充足。