Experts Study Possible Human-to-Human Bird Flu Case in Vietn

Experts Study Possible Human-to-Human Bird Flu Case in Vietnam

Katherine Maria

The World Health Organization says experts looking at human cases of bird flu cannot rule out the possibility that it spread among members of a family in Vietnam.

The United Nations' health agency said Sunday that the bird flu, which has killed millions of chickens across Asia, might have spread among members of a family in Vietnam.

Two sisters died a week ago; they fell ill after their brother died of an unidentified disease. His wife also contracted the bird flu, but has recovered.

WHO epidemiologists say they found no conclusive¹ evidence linking the sisters to infected poultry². Laboratory test carried out in Hong Kong confirmed they had the H5N1 virus.

Experts say the sisters, aged³ 23 and 30, may have caught the disease from their brother, who was cremated⁵ after he died, before any tests were done on him.

Bob Dietz is the WHO spokesman in Vietnam. He says experts are considering the possibility of human-to-human transmission. "This is not confirmed human-to-human transmission, only that, at this point, we cannot dismiss it as not a possibility."

Scientists have long warned the H5N1 virus poses a potential threat to global health if it becomes able to spread as quickly among people as it does among chickens.

Bird flu has spread to at least 10 countries in Asia. The H5N1 virus is responsible for 10 human deaths in the past several weeks. Scientists have linked almost all human cases to contact with sick birds.

The family in Vietnam would not be the first that epidemiologists have suspected of human-to-human transmission of the disease.

In 1997, when the H5N1 virus first crossed from chickens to humans in Hong Kong, a doctor fell ill with the disease, which he may have contracted from a patient.

"The doctor became ill and was shown to be H5N1-positive. The most plausible⁶ explanation was that he contracted it from the patient."

Six of the 18 human cases in Hong Kong in 1997 died. Except for the doctor, all had been exposed to poultry.

Mr. Dietz says the possibility of human transmission does not necessarily mean the virus has changed. He notes that human cases of the bird flu are still very rare; only a few dozen people have developed it since 1997.

 

注释：

World Health Organization (WHO)  世界卫生组织

bird flu  禽流感

contract [5kCntrAkt] v. 感染

rule out  排除

Vietnam [9vIEt5nAm]  越南

epidemiologist [5epI9di:mI5ClEdVIst] n. 流行病学家

conclusive evidence  确证

cremate⁴ [kri5meit] vt. 火葬

transmission [trAnz5miFEn] n. 传播

positive [5pCzEtiv] adj. 呈阳性的

plausible [5plC:zEbl] adj. 似乎合理的，似乎可能的

 

1 conclusive   

adj.最后的，结论的；确凿的，消除怀疑的

参考例句：

• They produced some fairly conclusive evidence.他们提供了一些相当确凿的证据。
• Franklin did not believe that the French tests were conclusive.富兰克林不相信这个法国人的实验是结论性的。

2 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?

3 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

4 cremate   

v.火葬，烧成灰

参考例句：

• She wants Chris to be cremated.她想把克里斯的尸体火化。
• Laowang explains: "Combustion is cremate, degenerating is inhumation. "老王解释道：“燃烧就是火葬，腐朽就是土葬。”

5 cremated   

v.火葬，火化（尸体）( cremate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He wants to is cremated, not buried. 他要火葬，不要土葬。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The bodies were cremated on the shore. 他们的尸体在海边火化了。 来自辞典例句

6 plausible   

adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的

参考例句：

• His story sounded plausible.他说的那番话似乎是真实的。
• Her story sounded perfectly plausible.她的说辞听起来言之有理。