2007年VOA标准英语-New Bird Flu Outbreaks Raise Alarm in Asia

By Claudia Blume
Hong Kong
15 January 2007

Rising numbers of human bird flu deaths in Indonesia and avian flu outbreaks among poultry¹ in several Asian countries have put the region on alert. The World Health Organization says Asia, Africa, even Europe, need to be prepared for the worse. Claudia Blume reports from VOA's Asia News Center in Hong Kong.

Vietnamese authorities reported on Monday that bird flu has spread to a seventh province in the country's south. Avian flu outbreaks have led to the killing² of tens of thousands of birds in Vietnam's Mekong delta³ in the past month.

Thai livestock⁴ officials say they have just culled⁵ ducks in a northern province, the first flu outbreak in poultry in six months.

In Japan, agricultural authorities began culling⁶ thousands of chickens at a southern poultry farm on Sunday after tests found they were infected with bird flu. In Hong Kong, a dead bird suspected of having the H5N1 strain of avian influenza⁷ was found last Saturday, the second in two weeks.

Bird flu has also claimed human lives. Four people died of avian influenza in Indonesia last week. The son and husband of one the victims are being treated for symptoms of bird flu. Officials say, however, that there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission.

Peter Cordingley (file photo)

Peter Cordingley, spokesman for the World Health Organization's regional office in Manila, says the recent outbreaks prove Asia needs to remain vigilant⁸.

"We are prepared to see basically a repeat of last year and we wouldn't be surprised at all to see the other thing last year which is this virus getting on the move," he explained. "Last year it moved out of Asia and moved into the Middle East and Europe and parts of Africa. We have seen human cases in Egypt already, outbreaks in poultry in northern Niger already - so we suspect that it would be foolish to vote against this virus not doing exactly the same it did last year."

Cordingley urges continued education about the dangers of living in close proximity⁹ to infected poultry, particularly in Indonesia, where more than 60 people have already died of avian influenza.

Many Asian countries are now better prepared than they were a year ago however. Denis Hoffman is a bird flu expert at the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization in Bangkok. He says surveillance and containment¹⁰ mechanisms¹¹ have improved tremendously.

"And even the countries that haven't had the disease yet, they have had assistance in preparing their contingency¹² plans, looking at their imports and exports to make sure that they don't get the disease coming in through the trade of poultry products, which is probably one of the major reasons for its spread," he said.

Bird flu featured prominently at the meeting of the Association of South East Asian Nations in Manila. Leaders endorsed¹³ a bird flu-prevention "road map" aimed at sharing best practices in the region.

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 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

4 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。

5 culled   

v.挑选，剔除( cull的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The herd must be culled. 必须有选择地杀掉部分牧畜。 来自辞典例句
• The facts were culled from various sources. 这些事实是从各方收集到的。 来自辞典例句

6 culling   

n.选择，大批物品中剔出劣质货v.挑选，剔除( cull的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The mathematicians turned to culling periodic solutions. 数学家们转而去挑选周期解。 来自辞典例句
• It took us a week to find you, a week of culling out prejudice and hatred. 我们花了一个星期的时间找到你们，把偏见和憎恨剔除出去。 来自演讲部分

7 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。

8 vigilant   

adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的

参考例句：

• He has to learn how to remain vigilant through these long nights.他得学会如何在这漫长的黑夜里保持警觉。
• The dog kept a vigilant guard over the house.这只狗警醒地守护着这所房屋。

9 proximity   

n.接近，邻近

参考例句：

• Marriages in proximity of blood are forbidden by the law.法律规定禁止近亲结婚。
• Their house is in close proximity to ours.他们的房子很接近我们的。

10 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。

11 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 contingency   

n.意外事件，可能性

参考例句：

• We should be prepared for any contingency.我们应该对任何应急情况有所准备。
• A fire in our warehouse was a contingency that we had not expected.库房的一场大火是我们始料未及的。

13 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》