2007年VOA标准英语-Britain Hit by Another Foot-and-Mouth Disease S

By Tom Rivers
London
04 August 2007

Foot-and-mouth disease has appeared again in Britain, six years after it sparked the widespread slaughter¹ of about seven million cows throughout the country in an effort to contain the outbreak. For VOA, Tom Rivers in London reports on this new case.

Just the mention of foot-and-mouth leaves many British farmers with a chill.

They know the severe impact the outbreak had in 2001 on rural communities and the billions it cost in lost revenues.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was on vacation when news of the outbreak came, but he returned Saturday to London, where he made a televised statement about government efforts to contain the disease.

British PM Gordon Brown, 31 July 2007

"We will be doing, night and day, everything in our power to make sure that what happens, happens quickly and happens decisively in a way that can reassure² people that everything is being done," he said.

The disease was discovered on a farm near the town of Guildford, southwest of London. Sixty cattle were culled³ there Saturday. The action was much quicker than in 2001, when critics said the slow response by the government of then-Prime Minister Tony Blair allowed the virus to spread. 

A three-kilometer exclusion⁴ zone has been established around the affected⁵ farm as well as a ten-kilometer surveillance area.

The transportation of cattle, sheep and pigs has also been banned in Britain, and the European Union has imposed a ban on livestock⁶ imports from Britain in response to the outbreak.   The United States and Japan have banned British pigs and pork products. British beef is already banned in the U.S. because of mad-cow disease.

Cabinet Minister Ed Miliband expressed sympathy for Britain's farmers.

"That is automatically imposed as a result of the finding of foot-and-mouth disease," he said.  "That is obviously very worrying for many farmers in this country and obviously our thoughts are with them today."

Foot-and-mouth disease affects animals with cloven hooves, such as cattle, pigs, deer, goats and sheep. An investigation⁷ into the specific strain of the disease has been launched to determine its origin.

Microbiologist Hugh Pennington says learning that quickly is absolutely crucial.

"Has this virus seeded itself anywhere in the country for example? It would be very important to find out where the virus has come from," he explained.  "There are lots of different ways through which that can be done, for example fingerprinting⁸ the virus to find out whether it is a South American virus or a virus from Asia for example."

Mr. Brown has promised a major effort to fight the spread of the disease.  Given the incubation period of the virus, it should be known within the next week whether efforts to isolate⁹ it have been successful.

1 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。

2 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

3 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

4 exclusion   

n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行

参考例句：

• Don't revise a few topics to the exclusion of all others.不要修改少数论题以致排除所有其他的。
• He plays golf to the exclusion of all other sports.他专打高尔夫球，其他运动一概不参加。

5 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

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。

7 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。

8 fingerprinting   

v.指纹( fingerprint的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Institutions from banks to pawnshops are fingerprinting to authenticate transactions. 从银行到当铺，都在使用指纹识别对交易进行验证。 来自互联网
• In addition, a digital fingerprinting algorithm based on binary codes is described. 介绍了一种二进制指纹编码方案。 来自互联网

9 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。