A Possible Safe New Way to Kill Mosquitoes That Spread Malar

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语健康报道。

Israeli researchers say they have developed a substance that attracts and kills mosquitoes infected with the malaria 1 parasite 2. However, the sweet smelling substance is said to be harmless to people and animals.

以色列研究人员称他们研制出了一种新的物质，能够吸引并消灭感染了疟原虫的蚊子。据称这种气味香甜的物质对人类和动物无害。

Scientists at Hebrew University in Jerusalem developed the sugary bait by combining fruit juice oils and boric acid. The fruit juice gets the attention of the mosquitoes. Boric acid kills the insects when they eat it.

耶路撒冷希伯莱大学的科学家将果汁和硼酸化合研制出了这种含糖诱捕剂。其中的果汁可以吸引蚊子。当昆虫食用这种诱捕剂的时候，其中的硼酸会将它杀死。

The scientists took the boric acid sweet bait to the West African nation of Mali. They sprayed it on plants near man-made ponds. Villagers use water from the ponds during the dry season. But the area is also home to Anopheles gambiae, the mosquito that carries the most deadly form of malaria.

科学家将这种含糖硼酸诱捕剂带到了西非的马里。他们将这种诱捕剂喷洒在人工池塘附近的植物上。在干旱季节，村民们使用这些池塘中的水。但是，该地区也居住着冈比亚疟蚊(Anopheles Gambiae)，这种蚊子携带了致命的疟原虫。

The researchers also placed a sweet-smelling spray on grasses near other ponds. But that spray contained no boric acid.

研究人员也在其他池塘附近的草地上喷洒了一种有甜味的喷雾。不过这种喷雾中不含硼酸。

Both substances also contained a substance that would mark any mosquito that came in contact with it. This way the scientists could count the mosquitoes that fed on the bait.

这两种喷雾中都含有一种物质，可以标记出接触过这种喷雾的任何蚊子。这样的话，科学家就可以计算曾经食用诱捕剂的蚊子的数量。

Yosef Schlein is an expert on insects that affect human health. Professor Schlein led the sweet bait research. He says thirty-eight days of results show the sweet boric acid bait proved very effective at killing 3 mosquitoes.

Yosef Schlein是影响人类健康的昆虫方面的专家。Schlein教授领导了这项甜味诱捕剂研究。他表示，38天的结果表明，这种甜味硼酸诱捕剂能够非常有效地杀死蚊子。

YOSEF SCHLEIN: "In Mali, we got down by some eighty percent, the females, and ninety percent of the males. But the area is full of little ponds in there, so it is impossible to stop mosquitoes from flying from an untreated pond to a treated pond."

Yosef Schlein：“在马里，我们成功地消灭了80%的雌性蚊子和90%的雄性蚊子。但是该地区到处都是小池塘，不可能阻止蚊子从未处理的池塘飞往经过处理的池塘。”

At the ponds treated only with sweet-smelling bait, Professor Schlein says, more than seventy five percent of mosquitoes fed on the false bait. He says most people do not know that female mosquitoes feed on sweet plant nectars to survive. Their blood feedings are part of reproduction.

Schlein教授说，在只用甜味诱喷雾处理过的池塘，超过75%的蚊子食用了这种假的诱捕剂。他说，大部分人不知道，雌性蚊子通过食用甜味植物的花蜜来生存。他们吸食血液也是繁殖的一部分。

The Israeli researchers now hope to develop a bait that is even more desirable to the malaria mosquitoes.

以色列研究人员现在希望研制出携带疟原虫的蚊子更喜欢的诱捕剂。

Boric acid is generally safe for human beings and other mammals. Professor Schlein says scientists might be able to develop a mosquito bait for enclosed spaces. Boric acid has been used to kill other insects including cockroaches 4, termites 5 and ants inside homes since the middle of last century.

硼酸对人类和其他动物一般是安全的。Schlein教授表示，科学家应该能够研制出在密闭的空间中可以使用的诱捕剂。自上世纪中期以来，硼酸一直用于消灭家中的蟑螂，白蚁和蚂蚁等昆虫。

A report about the malaria mosquito sweet bait was published in Malaria Journal.

关于疟原虫甜味诱捕剂的报告发表在《疟疾杂志》上。