VOA常速英语2007年-New Bird Flu Outbreak Strikes Britain

By Tom Rivers
London
13 November 2007

Authorities in Britain have ordered the culling¹ of thousand of turkeys and other birds at a farm northeast of London where a deadly strain of avian flu has been detected. For VOA, Tom Rivers reports from the British capital.

Having successfully dealt with a previous outbreak in February, Britain is again coping with bird flu and as British government lab results now show, it is the deadly form of the virus, H5 N1.

That was confirmed Tuesday by the country's deputy chief veterinary officer Fred Landeg.

"It is of the Asian lineage and it is closely related to strains of highly pathogenic avian influenza² found this summer in the Czech republic and in Germany," he said.

A three-kilometer protection zone rings the poultry³ farm in eastern England where this outbreak has occurred and beyond that, a ten-kilometer surveillance zone encircles the area in northern Suffolk country.

On that farm itself, Landeg says culling is underway.

"There are 5,000 turkeys, approximately on the site, over 1,000 ducks and nearly 500 geese," he added.  "These birds are free-range, but of course they are brought in at night and when the premises⁴ was brought under restriction⁵, the birds were housed."

Given the similarity to the strains found this summer in the Czech republic and in Germany, one theory is that a wild bird might have brought it in, but right now, nothing is being ruled in or out.

"At this stage, we are keeping an open mind as to the origin of and as I have said, all potential sources of the origin will be investigated and that includes movements of people, vehicles and things onto the premises and the investigation⁶ clearly will cover whether there is any existing disease elsewhere in the immediate⁷ area," he explained.

Roughly nine months ago, an outbreak of the virus on another poultry farm from the same general region led to the slaughter⁸ of 160,000 turkeys.

Since it first emerged in Asian poultry stocks, it is believed that just over 200 people have died of the disease worldwide although it remains⁹ difficult for humans to catch.

1 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

2 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。

3 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?

4 premises   

n.建筑物，房屋

参考例句：

• According to the rules,no alcohol can be consumed on the premises.按照规定，场内不准饮酒。
• All repairs are done on the premises and not put out.全部修缮都在家里进行，不用送到外面去做。

5 restriction   

n.限制，约束

参考例句：

• The park is open to the public without restriction.这个公园对公众开放，没有任何限制。
• The 30 mph speed restriction applies in all built-up areas.每小时限速30英里适用于所有建筑物聚集区。

6 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

7 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

8 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。