WHO Warns Of More Human Deaths After Bird Flu's Latest Victi

 

By Nancy-Amelia Collins
 
A World Health Organization official has warned of the likelihood of more human deaths from the bird flu virus, after the death of a teenage boy in Thailand this week.

On Wednesday, an 18-year-old Thai boy , who raised fighting cocks, became Asia's 28th human victim of bird flu this year.

Komsan Fukhom contracted the H5N1 strain of the virus late last month following the death of 30 of his birds. The teenager initially¹ refused medical treatment, and doctors say when he did enter the hospital, it was too late to save him.

Thai health officials have now placed a 16-year-old, who was close to the victim and who also handled the birds, under watch for signs of the disease.

An earlier outbreak of the virus this year left eight people dead in Thailand and 16 in Vietnam. Tens of millions of fowl² across the region died or were slaughtered³ to stop the spread of the disease, devastating⁴ poultry⁵ industries.

The virus re-emerged in July in Vietnam, Thailand, China, Malaysia and Indonesia. Three more people died in Vietnam.

Peter Cordingley, the WHO's Western Pacific Office spokesman, says this is not the end of human death from bird flu.

"We think the virus is in the environment," said Peter Cordingley. "Almost no progress has been made in the big job of eradicating⁶ it. So, I'm afraid that almost certain, there's going to be more human deaths and more outbreaks in poultry, until we get something like a grip on [get control of] this."

The WHO spokesman says the disease is now endemic in Asia, and the focus has to be on containment⁷.

"I think the early target should be containment," he said. "That works through surveillance, infection control, transparency - reporting when there are problems, so that the right responses can be put in place."

So far, only people who have come into contact with infected poultry have contracted the disease.

But health officials worldwide are concerned the flu virus could change to a form that can be transmitted from human to human, possibly causing a global flu pandemic.

Nancy-Amelia Collins, for VOA News, Bangkok.
 
 
注释：
likelihood 可能
H5N1甲型禽流感
initially 最初
Vietnam 越南
fowl 家禽
slaughter 屠宰
devastate 破坏
re-emerge 重现
Malaysia 马来西亚
endemic 地方的
containment 遏制
surveillance 监控

1 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

2 fowl   

n.家禽，鸡，禽肉

参考例句：

• Fowl is not part of a traditional brunch.禽肉不是传统的早午餐的一部分。
• Since my heart attack,I've eaten more fish and fowl and less red meat.自从我患了心脏病后，我就多吃鱼肉和禽肉，少吃红色肉类。

3 slaughtered   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The invading army slaughtered a lot of people. 侵略军杀了许多人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Hundreds of innocent civilians were cruelly slaughtered. 数百名无辜平民遭残杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 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?

6 eradicating   

摧毁，完全根除( eradicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Objective: To study the acute and chronic toxicity of Ten-flavor-acne eradicating-capsule. 目的：探讨复方中药合剂十味平痤胶囊的急性及慢性毒性。
• We are on the verge of eradicating polio in the world. 我们已在世界消除小儿？痹症的边缘了。

7 containment   

n.阻止，遏制；容量

参考例句：

• Your list might include such things as cost containment,quality,or customer satisfaction.你的清单上应列有诸如成本控制、产品质量、客户满意程度等内容。
• Insularity and self-containment,it is argued,go hand in hand.他们争论说，心胸狭窄和自我封闭是并存的。