VOA慢速英語(yǔ): 狗狗接種疫苗可以消除狂犬?。p語(yǔ)）

狗狗接種疫苗可能消除狂犬病

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health Report.

這里是美國(guó)之音的健康報(bào)道。

In the United States, we often say that “dogs are a man’s best friend.” While it is true that dogs are popular pets, it is also true that in some parts of the world, a dog bite can lead to a painful death.

在美國(guó)，我們經(jīng)常說(shuō)“狗是人類最好的朋友。”確實(shí)，狗是最受歡迎的寵物，但是在世界的一些地方，確實(shí)也有些問(wèn)題：被狗咬了可能會(huì)導(dǎo)致痛苦的死亡。

In fact, about 70,000 people worldwide die every year of rabies. Rabies is a viral infection that people get mainly through dog bites.

事實(shí)上，全世界每年大約有7萬(wàn)人死于狂犬病?？袢∈且环N被狗咬后的急性傳染病。

Rabies is uncommon in the West. But in India, and other parts of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, dogs that have not received anti-rabies vaccine continue to threaten public health.

在西方國(guó)家，狂犬病并不是很常見(jiàn)。但是在印度，亞洲的其他一些地方以及撒哈拉以南的非洲，因?yàn)楣饭窙](méi)有接種疫苗，仍然威脅著人們的健康安全。

A rabies death is a painful process. After a rabid dog bites someone, the virus invades the person’s central nervous system. Victims develop a severe and irrational fear of water. They convulse, or shake violently. Then they go into a coma and almost always die.

狂犬病發(fā)作是個(gè)痛苦的過(guò)程。被狗咬后，狂犬病毒會(huì)侵入人的中樞神經(jīng)。受害者十分恐懼、害怕水。他們會(huì)抽搐或者劇烈的搖晃，然后陷入昏迷，大多數(shù)情況下會(huì)死亡。

However, the rabies virus is not immediately active in the human body. It is usually inactive for at least 10 days after a bite. Sometimes it remains silent for months. This is called an incubation period. During incubation, vaccination can still prevent infection.

然而，狂犬病毒不會(huì)在人體內(nèi)立即發(fā)作，通常被咬后悔潛伏至少10天，有時(shí)甚至?xí)摲脦讉€(gè)月。這叫做潛伏期。在潛伏期，接種疫苗仍然可以預(yù)防感染病毒。

Scientists say vaccinating dogs can effectively get rid of rabies outbreaks in dog populations. And this will have a domino effect – vaccinating dogs with rabies means fewer humans with rabies.

科學(xué)家說(shuō)接種疫苗的狗能夠有效的擺脫狂犬病的爆發(fā)。就像是多米諾效應(yīng)——接種狂犬疫苗的狗多了，那感染狂犬病的人就會(huì)少了。

But many developing countries do not have dog vaccination systems in place. So, rabies still kills 70,000 people around the world every year. Most victims are children.

但是很多發(fā)展中國(guó)家的一些地方?jīng)]有狗狗接種疫苗的體制，所以，世界范圍內(nèi)狂犬病每年奪取7萬(wàn)多人的生命。多數(shù)受害者是兒童。

Animal scientists are calling for mass vaccination of dogs as a way to get rid of rabies.

動(dòng)物專家呼吁讓狗狗大范圍的接種疫苗，來(lái)擺脫狂犬病的困擾。

One example of where this worked very well is in the African country of Tanzania. Public health officials there set up dog vaccination centers in 180villages. Before the vaccination centers were set up, there were, on average, 50 rabies deaths every year in Tanzania. After the centers began working, that number dropped to nearly zero.

非洲的坦桑尼亞國(guó)家做得就非常好。衛(wèi)生官員在180個(gè)村莊設(shè)立狗狗疫苗接種中心。這個(gè)中心設(shè)立之前，在坦桑尼亞，平均每年有50例狂犬病死亡病例。但是這個(gè)中心投入使用后，死亡病例幾乎為零。

Guy Palmer is director of the School for Global Animal Health at Washington State University. He co-authored the study in Tanzania.

蓋·帕瑪是華盛頓州立大學(xué)全球動(dòng)物健康研究中心的主任，他合作參與了坦桑尼亞的研究。

Mr. Palmer says researchers found that immunizing 70 percent of dogs wiped out rabies as a human threat.

帕瑪說(shuō)：“研究員發(fā)現(xiàn)世界范圍內(nèi)，70%的狗接種疫苗的話，就能夠消除威脅人類的狂犬病。”

“Before that, people had said, ‘Well, the dogs are running wild.’ We’ve shown that, in fact, that’s not true. These dogs tend to have owners, so they are available for vaccination. We can get 70 percent coverage.”

“在這之前，人們總說(shuō)：‘狗是野生瘋跑的。’但是我們的研究證明并非如此，”

Mr. Palmer says 40 percent of those who get rabies from dogs in Africa and Asia are children.

帕瑪說(shuō)：“非洲和亞洲40%感染狂犬病病毒的是兒童。”

Mr. Palmer wrote a report on the subject for Science magazine. It says that rabies could be permanently ended within 10 years. The scientists suggest using a method called “One Health.” The method brings together people doctors and animal doctors, or veterinarians. They immunize dogs against rabies and treat dog-bite victims.

帕瑪就這一課題為科學(xué)雜志寫(xiě)了一份報(bào)告。報(bào)告里說(shuō)：狂犬病在10年內(nèi)能夠永遠(yuǎn)的被消滅?？茖W(xué)家建議使用“一種健康”的方法。這種方法把醫(yī)生和獸醫(yī)聚集到一起，他們一起給狗狗增加免疫，治療被狗咬的受害人。

“This is not something that requires 10 to 20 years of basic research to develop a vaccine. We have a vaccine that works perfectly. It’s really an implementation strategy, and a desire to do so. And one of the benefits is that any implementation strategy like this strengthens those infrastructures within the most vulnerable communities and countries.”

“這不是需要10到20年的研究才能制造出來(lái)疫苗的工程，我們已經(jīng)有有效的疫苗了。這確實(shí)是個(gè)可以實(shí)施的策略，而且人們也希望這么做。任何可以實(shí)施的策略的好處是：增強(qiáng)那些脆弱的團(tuán)體和國(guó)家的基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施建設(shè)。”

Mr. Palmer says a successful anti-rabies campaign strengthens medical systems. And this could have a positive domino effect when fighting other deadly diseases, such as Ebola.

帕瑪說(shuō)一場(chǎng)成功的抵抗狂犬病的運(yùn)動(dòng)能夠增強(qiáng)醫(yī)療體系。這對(duì)于抵抗其它致命疾病，如：埃博拉病毒是個(gè)積極的影響。

And that’s the Health Report. I’m Anna Matteo.

這是健康報(bào)道。我是安娜·馬特奧。

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Words in this Story

irrational – adj. not thinking clearly; not able to use reason or good judgment

convulse – v. to have an experience in which the muscles in your body shakein a sudden, violent way that you are not able to control

coma – n. a state of deep unconsciousness that lasts for a prolonged orindefinite period, caused especially by severe injury or illness

incubation period – n. the period between exposure to an infection and the appearance of the first symptoms

veterinary – adj. relating to the medical care and treatment of animals. Aveterinarian is a doctor for animals

domino effect - n. a situation in which one event causes a series of similarevents to happen one after another