2007年VOA标准英语-Researchers Blame Bats for Marburg Outbreak in

By Alisha Ryu
Nairobi
23 August 2007

Medical researchers studying the recent outbreak of Marburg hemorrhagic fever in Uganda say common bats are the most likely source of the outbreak.    VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu in our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi spoke¹ to one of the lead scientists, who says the data shows more areas in Africa are at risk for Marburg outbreaks than previously² thought. 

ecological3 team, holds a bat in a lead and gold mine in Kitaka, Uganda, 12 August 2007" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070831/1116560.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

A member of a WHO ecological team, holds a bat in a lead and gold mine in Kitaka, Uganda, 12 August 2007

A medical team of two dozen investigators⁴ from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, and other health agencies has spent the past two weeks trapping bats in a gold mine in a remote area of western Uganda, where two miners last month became infected, and one died, of Marburg hemorrhagic fever, which is a deadly cousin of the Ebola virus.

Lead investigator⁵, Dr. Pierre Rollin, says other teams have been testing bats in several other regions of Africa.   Among the 1,100 bats of 10 species tested, scientists have detected the Marburg virus in only one common type of fruit bat that lives deep inside caves and mines.  

Four of the fruit bats tested positive for the virus and more than 20 others showed low levels of antibodies to the virus.

"The infected bat excretes the virus in urine, feces, saliva," he said.  "And the people are in contact with these bats in a very confined area.  We think in this way, people can be infected by breathing, or having some secretions⁶ or excretions on their skin, in the eyes."

In Uganda, the tallest chamber⁷ in the mine measured just three meters high and investigators say workers digging through the mine would have had frequent contact with bats and their waste.

Dr. Rollin says the test results are significant, because they confirm scientists' long-held belief that an animal, particularly bats, was a reservoir for the Marburg virus.  Separate studies have identified three species of fruit bats as being the likely carriers of the related, but more lethal⁸, Ebola virus. 

Early symptoms of both the Ebola and Marburg viruses include high fever, chills, and severe headaches.  Late-stage infections could include multi-organ failures and sometimes gruesome hemorrhaging from openings in the body.  Close contact with the bodily fluids of infected people can rapidly spread the disease among humans.

Since the Marburg virus was first identified in 1967, it has killed people in South Africa, Uganda, and Kenya.   In Congo Kinshasa, a major outbreak killed 123 people in a gold mining community between 1998 and 2000.   The worst known outbreak of Marburg fever occurred two years ago in Angola, where as many as 300 people died of the disease.

Dr. Rollin says because there are millions of cave-dwelling fruit bats throughout Africa, scientists have to now assume that more areas of the continent are at risk for Marburg fever outbreaks.  

He says until a vaccine⁹ is found to prevent the disease, people need to take precautions, such as wearing protective clothing and masks in caves and mines.  

"There is no way to control the bats," he added.  "Nobody thinks that you can diminish the population, eradicate¹⁰ the bats.  If you can avoid them, leave the bats where they are.  Leave them alone and they will leave you alone."

The medical investigators are expected to continue their field research for another two weeks in an attempt to find a bat from which they can isolate¹¹ the Marburg virus.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

3 ecological   

adj.生态的，生态学的

参考例句：

• The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
• Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.

4 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

6 secretions   

n.分泌（物）( secretion的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lysozyme is an enzyme found in egg white, tears, and other secretions. 溶菌酶是存在于卵白、泪和其他分泌物中的一种酶。 来自辞典例句
• Chest percussion and vibration are used with postural drainage to help dislodge secretions. 在做体位引流时要敲击和振动胸部帮助分泌物松动排出。 来自辞典例句

7 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

8 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

9 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

10 eradicate   

v.根除，消灭，杜绝

参考例句：

• These insects are very difficult to eradicate.这些昆虫很难根除。
• They are already battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus.他们已经在努力消灭疟疾、破伤风等疾病。

11 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。