HEALTH REPORT - West Nile Virus Update
HEALTH REPORT - September 18, 2002: West Nile Virus Update
By Nancy Steinbach
17 Sep 2002, 20:17 UTC
This is the VOA Special English Health Report.
The United States Centers for Disease Control says more than one-thousand-two hundred people across the
country have been infected by the West Nile virus this year. At least forty-five people in fourteen states have died
from sicknesses caused by the virus.
The West Nile virus is commonly found in Africa, West Asia and the Middle East. It can infect mosquitoes,
people, birds, horses and other animals such as cats and rabbits. The virus is passed to humans through the bite of
an infected mosquito.
The West Nile virus usually causes a minor 1 sickness known as West Nile fever.
Many people do not even know they have it. It lasts only a few days and does not
seem to cause any permanent health effects.
The virus can also cause much more serious diseases that can kill. These include
West Nile encephalitis and West Nile meningitis. In these diseases, the virus spreads
through the blood system and enters the brain. It affects the central nervous system
and causes swelling 2 of brain tissue. Older people and those with weakened defense 3
systems against disease are more at risk of developing serious diseases from the
West Nile virus.
West Nile virus was first found in the United States in the summer of nineteen-ninety-nine in the state of New
York. It has spread every summer since then. Scientists say it is now permanently 4 established in this part of the
world.
Four people developed West Nile virus infections after receiving organs from a woman killed in a car accident.
The West Nile virus was later found in the woman’s blood. She had received blood transfusions 5 in the hospital
before she died. It is not known if she became infected with the virus from that blood or if she was infected from
a mosquito. Public health officials are trying to answer this question. They are also investigating whether several
other people may have gotten the virus from blood they received in hospitals.
The United States Food and Drug Administration has published a warning to organizations involved in collecting
blood. It told officials not to take blood from people who seem to have signs of West Nile fever. There is no test
that will tell if collected blood contains the virus. The Centers for Disease Control says public health officials will
work to develop such a test if it is shown that the virus can be spread through blood.
This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Nancy Steinbach.
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(Photo - CDC)
- The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
- I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。
- 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。
- The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
- The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。
- The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
- The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。
- Still, transfusions have apparently never spread the disease, even among hemophiliacs. 还有，输血很明显从未传播过这种病，即使在血友病人之间也是如此。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 口蹄疫疯牛病
- Blood transfusions are a special, limited example of tissue transplantation. 输血是一个特殊的、有限制的组织移植的例子。 来自辞典例句