(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
This is the Health Report from VOA Learning English.
Experts are watching the outbreak of a virus in the Middle East for signs that it could spread around the world.
David Swerdlow is with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He studies the spread of diseases through large populations. He leads the CDC's response to the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS.
First, here is the bad news.
"Thirty to 40 percent of people who get it have died. It's caused illness in multiple countries. The virus clearly spreads from person to person and it's severe and there's no treatment or vaccine."
MERS is a member of the viral family of germs that cause the common cold, as well as severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS. That disease appeared in southern China in 2003. It infected about 8,000 people in 29 countries and killed about 800 before it was contained.
The MERS virus first appeared in September of 2012. Most reported cases have been in Saudi Arabia.
Now, for the good news. MERS does not spread as easily as SARS, says Amesh Adalja with the Infectious Diseases Society of America.
"With SARS we saw much more human transmissibility. And we also saw individuals who we called 'super-spreaders,' people who disproportionately spread the virus more than anybody else and were really responsible for how the virus made its way all around the world."
Mr. Adalja says there are no MERS super-spreaders -- at least, not yet.
The World Health Organization reports 261 MERS infections, including 93 deaths. Other organizations put those numbers higher.
In April, there was a sharp rise in cases in Saudi Arabia. Some health experts fear that means the MERS virus has changed, or mutated. That would be a danger sign.
But the CDC's David Swerdlow says German researchers have examined DNA from some of the new Saudi cases.
"The information they have shown suggests that there has not been any significant change in the virus."
That is, again, good news. But Mr. Swerdlow says researchers need more information to be sure. Scientists still do not know a lot about MERS. They do not even know where it came from, although camels are the prime suspect.
But, Amesh Adalja says scientists have learned from the SARS virus.
"The world is a small place ... that borders don't mean anything. And that the total health security of the globe is really tied up in identifying these threats as quickly as possible and then trying to stop them in their tracks."
That's why health officials around the world are keeping a close eye on MERS.
On Friday, the CDC reported the first case of MERS within the United States.
CDC officials said an American health care worker infected with the virus is being treated at a hospital in the northern state of Indiana. They said the patient traveled from Saudi Arabia to London on April 24th, and then on to the United States.
The CDC is working to identify people who may have been in contact with that patient.
When health officials find that a virus such as MERS is traveling from country to country, they often issue "travel advisories." Travel advisories warn people of certain events taking place in a country such as civil war, crime and public health threats like a virus. Currently, the CDC is not advising people to change their travel plans because of the MERS virus.
And that's the Health Report.
Has MERS been reported where you live? Do you remember the SARS virus? Share your thoughts in the comment section. It's a great place to practice your written English.
I'm Anna Matteo.
文本来自51voa，译文属可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载
词汇解释
1.respiratory adj. 呼吸的
Some respiratory symptoms can be the forerunners of asthma.
一些呼吸道症状可能是哮喘病的先兆。
2.contain vt. 包含；控制；容纳；牵制（敌军） vi. 含有；自制
At the sight of this cruelty, they could hardly contain their anger.
看到这种惨不忍睹的景象，他们简直无法克制他们的愤怒情绪。
3.transmissibility n. 遗传性；[机] 传递率；传递性
There are two crucial factors: the transmissibility of the virus, and its virulence.
有两个关键因素：病毒的传播性和其毒性。
4.mutate vi. 变化，产生突变 vt. 改变，使突变
The virus mutates in the carrier's body.
该病毒在携带者体内发生突变。
内容解析
1.And that the total health security of the globe is really tied up in identifying these threats as quickly as possible and then trying to stop them in their tracks.
tied up 被占用的（东西等）；脱不了身的；忙得不可开交的（人）；绑扎了的；有关系的
He's tied up with his new book. He's working hard, you know.
他正忙他那本新书－－你要知道他现在确实很努力工作。
They were tied up with that big company.
他们与那家大公司关系密切。
参考译文
这里是美国之音慢速英语卫生报道。
专家正在关注中东的一种病毒是否有蔓延到全世界的迹象。
大卫·斯维尔德洛就职于美国疾病控制和预防中心(CDC)，他通过大量人口研究疾病的蔓延，他是CDC对中东呼吸系统综合症(MERS)工作的负责人。
首先，下面是则坏消息。
“30%到40%的感染患者已经死亡，在多个国家都引发了疾病。这种病毒显然是人际传播，病情很严重，没有治愈办法和疫苗。”
MERS是引发普通感冒和非典(SARS)病毒家族的一员，非典2003年出现在中国南方，感染了29个国家的大约8000人，在最终被遏制之前导致约800人死亡。
MERS病毒最初出现在2012年9月，大多数确诊病例出现在沙特。
下面是些好消息，就职于美国感染疾病协会的Amesh Adalja说，MERS不像非典那样容易蔓延。
“我们发现非典更容易通过人际传播，我们发现所谓‘超级传染者’的个体，这些人比其他人更容易传播病毒，它们将这些病毒传播到全世界。”
Adalja说至少到目前为止还没发现MERS的超级传染者。
世卫组织报告存在261个MERS感染病例，包括93个死亡病例。其他组织称这些数字要更高。
4月份该病例在沙特急剧增加，有的卫生专家担心这意味着MERS病毒已经突变，这就是个危险的信号。
但美国疾病控制和预防中心的大卫·斯维尔德洛说，德国研究者从沙特的一些病例中发现出DNA。
“他们得出的信息表明这种病毒还没有发生很巨大的改变。”
这又是个好消息，但斯维尔德洛说需要更多信息来证实。科学家对MERS仍了解不多，他们不知道它来自何处，尽管骆驼是最大的嫌疑者。
但Amesh Adalja说科学家已从非典病毒中学到东西。
“这个世界很小，边界并不意味着什么。全球的整个健康安全要取决于尽快发现这些威胁，然后努力追踪到并加以阻止。”
因为全世界的卫生官员都密切关注MERS。
周五，CDC报告在美国境内发现首个MERS病例。
CDC官员称一名感染上该病毒的美国医护工作者目前在北部印第安纳州接受治疗，他们说这位病人4月24日从沙特前往伦敦旅行，然后来到美国。
CDC目前正努力确定可能与这位病人接触的人员。
当卫生官员发现MERS这样的病毒在国家之间传播时，通常会发布“旅行警告”，旅行警告会告诉人们不要去发生内战、犯罪和病毒等公共健康威胁的国家去。目前，CDC并没有MERS病毒建议人们改变旅行计划。
这就是卫生报道。
你居住的地方出现MERS病例吗？你还记得非典吗？在评论区与我们分享你的想法，这是锻炼英语书写能力的好地方。
我是安娜·马特奥。
