VOA常速英语2008年-Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Poses Threat to P

By Ruth Reader
Washington, DC
13 February 2008
 

There is growing concern around the world over illnesses caused by new antibiotic¹-resistant² bacteria, or so-called "superbugs", and the decreasing effectiveness of antibiotics⁴ to treat infections. Earlier this month, the National Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production presented its findings to a group of U.S. lawmakers and journalists. As Ruth Reader reports from Washington, commission members outlined the dangers to humans when bacteria is transferred from farm animals to the general population.

In the last decade several "super bugs³" have emerged worldwide, causing concern among doctors and civilians⁵.

Dr. Robert Lawrence, a professor of public health at Johns Hopkins University, says,  "they're getting into our water sources; they're getting into soils; and they're getting into the air."

Along with two members of the National Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production, he described how the production of meat and poultry⁶ plays a big role in the spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Most farms in the U.S. today are not small family farms, but large-scale industrial operations. Researchers say farmers add antibiotics to the animal feed to prevent disease from spreading through the livestock⁷. Animals raised for their meat are kept in very tight living quarters where it is easy for disease to spread.

This frequent use of antibiotics causes bacteria to develop a resistance to the drug. That means not only does the meat carry the antibiotic resistant bacteria, but so does the animal waste.

Dr. Lawrence says hogs⁸, for example, produce six to seven times as much waste as humans. The waste is sometimes kept in large manure⁹ lagoons¹⁰, which can flood and overflow¹¹ when it rains or snows. Other times, farmers spray animal waste onto fields as a fertilizer, but they often over-saturate the fields.

"Every year 357,000 tons of chicken waste from the chicken farms, owned by the integrators operating out of Arkansas and Oklahoma, is spread on the land, (and) runs-off because it is so excessive it can't be absorbed by growing plants and gets into shallow wells, into the drinking water, and into the Illinois River," he said.

There are other ways resistant bacteria can infect humans. Dr. Michael Blackwell, President and CEO of the Blackwell Group, explains, "Run-off onto, let's say a spinach¹² field, or using that feces as a fertilizer, is one way to transfer to a non-meat type food articles."

And, as Harvard Associate Professor Mary Wilson explains, the problem is not confined to the United States, "The general issue of antimicrobial resistance is a global problem and traveling, moving populations also means that there are resistance genes¹³ in bacteria, for example, that emerge in one part of the world, in fact, they can be carried to another part of the world."

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria is not only global, it's in the soil and water. Dr. Mary Torrence, a food safety expert at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, says there is no easy fix. "We haven't figured out what will reduce antibiotic resistance. There's been a lot of efforts internationally as far as reducing antibiotics in animals and in people. And we have yet to find out what impact that has at the public health level."

So far, Dr. Torrence says, there have been mixed results in research on organic farming. She says that even though organic farmers are not using antibiotics or growth hormones¹⁴ on their livestock, antimicrobial bacteria is still present.

The Commission plans to release a full recommendation to Congress on how to deal with the problem of antibiotic resistance at the end of February.

1 antibiotic   

adj.抗菌的；n.抗生素

参考例句：

• The doctor said that I should take some antibiotic.医生说我应该服些用抗生素。
• Antibiotic can be used against infection.抗菌素可以用来防止感染。

2 resistant   

adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的

参考例句：

• Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
• They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。

3 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 antibiotics   

n.（用作复数）抗生素；（用作单数）抗生物质的研究；抗生素，抗菌素( antibiotic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the discovery of antibiotics in the 20th century 20世纪抗生素的发现
• The doctor gave me a prescription for antibiotics. 医生给我开了抗生素。

5 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

6 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?

7 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。

8 hogs   

n.（尤指喂肥供食用的）猪( hog的名词复数 )；（供食用的）阉公猪；彻底地做某事；自私的或贪婪的人

参考例句：

• 'sounds like -- like hogs grunting. “像——像是猪发出的声音。 来自英汉文学 - 汤姆历险
• I hate the way he hogs down his food. 我讨厌他那副狼吞虎咽的吃相。 来自辞典例句

9 manure   

n.粪，肥，肥粒；vt.施肥

参考例句：

• The farmers were distributing manure over the field.农民们正在田间施肥。
• The farmers used manure to keep up the fertility of their land.农夫们用粪保持其土质的肥沃。

10 lagoons   

n.污水池( lagoon的名词复数 )；潟湖；（大湖或江河附近的）小而浅的淡水湖；温泉形成的池塘

参考例句：

• The Islands are by shallow crystal clear lagoons enclosed by coral reefs. 该群岛包围由珊瑚礁封闭的浅水清澈泻湖。 来自互联网
• It is deposited in low-energy environments in lakes, estuaries and lagoons. 它沉淀于湖泊、河口和礁湖的低能量环境中，也可于沉淀于深海环境。 来自互联网

11 overflow   

v.(使)外溢，(使)溢出；溢出，流出，漫出

参考例句：

• The overflow from the bath ran on to the floor.浴缸里的水溢到了地板上。
• After a long period of rain,the river may overflow its banks.长时间的下雨天后，河水可能溢出岸来。

12 spinach   

n.菠菜

参考例句：

• Eating spinach is supposed to make you strong.据说吃菠菜能使人强壮。
• You should eat such vegetables as carrot,celery and spinach.你应该吃胡萝卜、芹菜和菠菜这类的蔬菜。

13 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

14 hormones   

n. 荷尔蒙，激素 名词hormone的复数形式

参考例句：

• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body. 这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。
• The adrenals produce a large per cent of a man's sex hormones. 肾上腺分泌人体的大部分性激素。