AGRICULTURE REPORT - Avian Flu Could Force Changes for Asian

AGRICULTURE REPORT - Avian Flu Could Force Changes for Asian Poultry¹ Farmers
By Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Tuesday, March 15, 2005

I'm Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Avian influenza² could force changes in the way farm birds are raised in Asia. The disease has already hurt the industry. The F.A.O., the Food and Agriculture Organization, says about one hundred forty million farm birds have died or been destroyed.

Oxford³ Economic Forecasting estimates poultry farm losses in Asia last year at more than ten thousand million dollars.

Top animal health officials from twenty-eight nations met for three days late last month in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The officials agreed on the need for changes in traditional ways of poultry farming in many Asian cultures.

For example, they said mixing different kinds of birds on farms can speed up the spread of the disease. They also agreed that chickens, ducks and other farm animals such as pigs should be kept separate. And they said human contact with animals should be limited.

A lack of supervision⁴ by animal doctors was another problem noted⁵.

The F.A.O. says more than one hundred million dollars would be urgently needed to improve animal health services and laboratories. It says several hundred million dollars would be needed for farmers who have lost animals to disease control efforts.

Samuel Jutzi is director of the Animal Production and Health Division of the F.A.O, a United Nations agency. He says wild birds, especially ducks, often carry the virus yet show no signs of sickness. But Mister Jutzi says wild birds should not be destroyed in an effort to protect farm birds.

Evidence suggests that other problems aid the spread of bird flu much more. Mister Jutzi says these include trade in live farm birds and mixing different kinds of live birds at markets. Poor farming methods also help the spread of the disease.

The group that met in Vietnam said vaccines⁶ can be an important tool to fight bird flu. The officials said the possibility of vaccinating⁷ ducks should be considered.

Experts have mixed opinions about using these preventive medicines on birds. Some are concerned that protecting against one virus may lead to other, more aggressive viruses.

On March eleventh the World Health Organization reported sixty-nine confirmed human cases of avian flu since January of last year. These cases in Vietnam, Thailand and, in one case, Cambodia resulted in forty-six deaths. Health officials worry that the virus could gain the ability to spread easily among people.

This VOA Special English Agriculture Report was written by Mario Ritter. I'm Gwen Outen.

1 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?

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 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

4 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

7 vaccinating   

给…接种疫苗( vaccinate的现在分词 )； 注射疫苗，接种疫苗

参考例句：

• At first blush, vaccinating the wolves against rabies seems a simple solution. 乍一看来，为狼群注射防狂犬病疫苗是一种简单的办法。
• Also vaccinating children against misers (measles) has saved many lives. 还有，给儿童进行疫苗接种防止麻疹也挽救了许多生命。