DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Fear Incites Resistance to Efforts to C

DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Fear Incites¹ Resistance to Efforts to Control the Spread of Marburg Virus in Angola
By Jill Moss²

Broadcast: Monday, April 18, 2005

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

Marburg virus has killed more than two hundred people in northern Angola. The rare virus has been deadly in nine out of ten cases.

Tests confirmed the virus as Marburg in late March. But the outbreak may have started in October in Uige, the area most severely³ affected⁴. Cases have also been found in several other provinces.

Marburg virus is spread through blood and other bodily fluids. Victims develop high temperature, diarrhea, vomiting⁵ and bleeding from the body. The virus is most infectious near the time of death or soon after.

Many people have become infected from washing the bodies of dead family members, a traditional burial custom in Angola. Health workers have also died.

The World Health Organization says this is the largest known outbreak of Marburg. Officials say the virus has spread much faster than it did in the last outbreak. That was in the Democratic Republic of Congo from nineteen ninety-eight to two thousand. More than one hundred twenty people died.

Marburg virus is named after the German city where it was first discovered in nineteen sixty-seven. The virus is in the same family as Ebola. In fact, experts say the two are almost impossible to tell apart. There are no cures or preventions for either Marburg or Ebola. And the cause is a mystery.

 
Workers in protective suits stand outside the hospital in Uige, northern Angola, waiting to desinfect the area after the removal of dead bodies of victims of the Marburg Virus Thursday, April 14 2005.
Teams of international medical workers are in Angola. An area has been set up to care for Marburg patients at the four-hundred bed hospital in Uige. The goal is to keep anyone suspected of being infected away from others. Experts say isolation⁶ is one of the most important ways to control the outbreak.

Yet the W.H.O. reported late last week that the isolation ward⁷ was empty. The agency said local people were unwilling⁸ to report suspected cases.

Some have even turned fear and anger toward medical workers. It does not help that the workers must dress in protective wear that makes it difficult to see their face.

This past Friday, the W.H.O. reported progress after meetings with traditional community leaders in the city of Uige. It said the governor of the province agreed to have the leaders join medical teams for seven days to search for cases and collect bodies.

The W.H.O. called the decision an important step toward community acceptance of the measures needed to control the Marburg outbreak.

This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss. I'm Gwen Outen.

1 incites   

刺激，激励，煽动( incite的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• In all countries any person who incites others to insurrection is guilty of treason. 在任何国家里，煽动他人谋反者，都属犯叛国罪。
• The success of the handicapped man incites us to pursue our dreams. 这位残疾人的成功激励我们追求自己的梦想。

2 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

3 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

4 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。

5 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。”

6 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

7 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

8 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。