Officials, Experts Wind Up Bird Flu Conference in Thailand

Officials, Experts Wind Up Bird Flu Conference in Thailand

 

Scott Bobb

Asian ministers and international health experts are ending a meeting in Thailand aimed at halting the spread of the bird flu virus. The virus has killed two people in Thailand and eight people in Vietnam and forced governments to kill millions of chickens across the region.

Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra Wednesday opened the meeting telling delegates that a regional solution is needed for such a widespread problem. "To contain a fast spreading virus, countries need to respond promptly¹ and with transparency, obtain reliable scientific data and share information."

Mr. Thaksin says the bird flu virus poses not only a grave economic threat, but also a serious threat to public health, a reference to humans who have contracted the disease after contact with infected birds.

Governments around Asia are rushing to cull² millions of potentially infected chickens, leaving thousands of farmers and workers jobless.

The Thai government, which has been accused of reacting slowly to the virus until it was widespread, has acknowledged that it made mistakes. But Mr. Thaksin urged delegates to put these behind them and learn the lessons from last year's epidemic³ of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome⁴, which killed nearly 800 people.

United Nations health agencies warn that bird flu could be more devastating⁵ than the SARS outbreak if the virus changes and begins passing from human to human.

Peter Cordingly, a representative of the World Health Organization, said the world community must mobilize to generate the vast resources needed to contain the disease. "We need money. We need technology. We need all kinds of resources. We need personnel. We are at the beginning of a big building process."

Wednesday's meeting brought together experts from international organizations, health and livestock⁶ ministers from the 10 Asian nations with bird flu cases and from Singapore and Hong Kong, which so far have no bird flu. The European Union and the United States also sent delegates.

 

 

注释：

Thailand [5taIlEnd] n. 泰国

Prime Minister 　总理

Thaksin Shinawatra 　他信·西瓦那，泰国总理。

promptly [5prRmptli] adv. 敏捷地，迅速地

pose [pEuz] v. （使）摆好姿势，形成，引起

grave [^reiv] adj. 严重的

contract [5kCntrAkt] v. 感染

contact with  接触

cull [kQl] v. 挑出杀死

acknowledge [Ek5nClidV] vt. 承认

epidemic [7epi5demik] n. 时疫

devastating [5devEsteItIN] adj. 破坏性的

mobilize [5mEubilaiz] v. 动员

livestock [5laivstCk] n. 家畜

The European Union  欧洲联盟，简称欧盟

 

1 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

2 cull   

v.拣选；剔除；n.拣出的东西；剔除

参考例句：

• It is usually good practice to cull the poorest prior to field planting.通常在实践上的好方法是在出圃栽植前挑出最弱的苗木。
• Laura was passing around photographs she'd culled from the albums at home.劳拉正在分发她从家里相册中挑选出的相片。

3 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。

4 syndrome   

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。

5 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

6 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。