VOA标准英语2009年-Elephantiasis Afflicts 120 Million in Afri

By Rachel Smalley
London
04 October 2009

 
The foot of a person suffering from elephantiasis
More than 120 million people worldwide are infected with elephantiasis, and one billion more are at risk of contracting the debilitating¹ and disfiguring ailment².  Infection is rampant³ in parts of Africa and Asia, but stepped-up efforts to combat the parasitic⁴ disease are under way.

Lymphatic filariasis, more commonly known as elephantiasis, afflicts⁵ many of the world's most vulnerable communities.  A parasite⁶ that infects the human lymphatic system is responsible for elephantiasis, which causes swelling⁷ and deformity of the limbs and other body parts.

Mosquitoes spread the tiny parasitic worm that causes elephantiasis from person to person.

The disease is endemic in 83 tropical countries, and Professor David Molyneux of Britain's Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine says anyone living in those places is at risk. "The total numbers of people which have been estimated by the World Health Organization to be at risk in these 83 countries is about 1.3 billion people, so let's say a fifth of the planet is at risk," he says.

There are few conditions in the world more socially alienating⁸. The Global Alliance to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis has been at the forefront of those fighting the disease.  As the group's video shows, elephantiasis mainly affects the rural poor, forcing infected people - like this man from Uganda - further into poverty.  "I am a carpenter.  It's quite a problem for me when I have to stand at my work for long periods," he says.

Washing infected limbs can help ease the suffering, but it does not cure or stop the spread of the condition.

This man comes from a village in Tanzania where elephantiasis is endemic. "I do not mind being seen in public because many other people have this disease, too," he says.

Set up nine years ago, the Global Alliance aims to eradicate⁹ elephantiasis as a public health threat by 2020.

The group has teamed up with the U.N. World Health Organization and major drug companies such as GlaxoSmithKline and Merck.

Andy Wright heads up GlaxoSmithKline's elephantiasis program. "When the program started, there was a global plan produced by the WHO for how you could achieve this goal within 20 years, and progress against that plan is very much on target.  So there is a lot of very strong evidence that the program is succeeding, and a lot of confidence that in the vast majority of countries, it will be successful before 2020," he says.

The eradication¹⁰ program consists of two drugs - albendazole, donated by GlaxoSmithKline, and Mectizan, donated by Merck.  Those living in endemic areas take two pills a year for five years.  The drugs significantly reduce the number of worm larvae¹¹ in the blood, which means far fewer mosquitoes carry the infection to those they bite.  "We made an agreement with the World Health Organization to donate one of our anti-parasitic drugs, albendazole, to every country that needs it, until the disease is eliminated.  And that's an enormous commitment that will take 20 years or more, and will involve billions [of doses] of ... albendazole," says Wright.

Despite these efforts, there is much more to do in the fight to eradicate lymphatic filariasis.  Populous¹² countries, such as Nigeria and Indonesia, and others face logistical problems in delivering and implementing¹⁴ the program nationwide.

Professor Molyneux says it should be viewed as the most important public health program of our generation.  "If we can't afford to implement¹³ this intervention¹⁵ within existing health financing environments, I don't believe we could afford to do anything in public health," he says.

Elephantiasis was once considered one of the world's most neglected afflictions, but those fighting it hope that by 2020 the disease will be gone.

1 debilitating   

a.使衰弱的

参考例句：

• The debilitating disease made him too weak to work. 这个令他衰弱的病，使他弱到没有办法工作。
• You may soon leave one debilitating condition or relationship forever. 你即将永远地和这段霉运说拜拜了。

2 ailment   

n.疾病，小病

参考例句：

• I don't have even the slightest ailment.我什么毛病也没有。
• He got timely treatment for his ailment.他的病得到了及时治疗。

3 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

4 parasitic   

adj.寄生的

参考例句：

• Will global warming mean the spread of tropical parasitic diseases?全球变暖是否意味着热带寄生虫病会蔓延呢？
• By definition,this way of life is parasitic.从其含义来说，这是种寄生虫的生活方式。

5 afflicts   

使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Level 3-Afflicts a target with the Curse of the Silent. 三级-用静默诅咒折磨一个目标。
• Level 1-Afflicts a target with the Curse of the Silent. 一级-用静默诅咒折磨一个目标。

6 parasite   

n.寄生虫；寄生菌；食客

参考例句：

• The lazy man was a parasite on his family.那懒汉是家里的寄生虫。
• I don't want to be a parasite.I must earn my own way in life.我不想做寄生虫，我要自己养活自己。

7 swelling   

n.肿胀

参考例句：

• Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
• There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。

8 alienating   

v.使疏远( alienate的现在分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• The phenomena of alienation are widespread. Sports are also alienating. 异化现象普遍存在，体育运动也不例外。 来自互联网
• How can you appeal to them without alienating the mainstream crowd? 你是怎么在不疏忽主流玩家的情况下吸引住他们呢？ 来自互联网

9 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。

10 eradication   

n.根除

参考例句：

• The eradication of an established infestation is not easy. 根除昆虫蔓延是不容易的。
• This is often required for intelligent control and eradication. 这经常需要灵巧的控制与消除。

11 larvae   

n.幼虫

参考例句：

• Larvae are parasitic on sheep.幼虫寄生在绵羊的身上。
• The larvae prey upon small aphids.这种幼虫以小蚜虫为食。

12 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

13 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

14 implementing   

v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句

15 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。