VOA双语新闻：美国国会就甲型H1N1流感听证

　　The first American citizen has died from the swine influenza 1 A-H1NI virus known as "swine flu", and the number of confirmed cases in the United States has surged to 642. The victim was a 33-year-old woman from Texas who officials say had other chronic 2 health conditions.

甲型H1N1流感病毒导致第一个美国人死亡，被确认的病例猛增到642例。死者是德克萨斯州的一名33岁妇女，官员们说，她患有其他慢性病。

A congressional foreign affairs subcommittee held a hearing Wednesday on the national and global implications of the H1N1 flu epidemic 3.

美国国会外交事务小组委员会星期三就甲型H1N1流感疫情对于美国和世界的影响举行听证会。

Anne Schuchat of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the hearing that U.S. health officials have moved with impressive speed to isolate 4 and study the new virus. "We have been able to move within two short weeks to identify this novel virus, understand the complete genetic 5 characteristics and compare the genetic composition of specimens 6 from U.S. patients to others around the globe to watch for mutations," he said.

美国疾病控制和预防中心的安.舒查特在听证会上说，美国卫生官员迅速采取行动，分析并研究这一新病毒，给人留下深刻印象。她说：“ 我们能够在短短两周内采取行动来辨认这种新病毒，了解全部有关的遗传基因特征，并且把来自美国患者的样本基因结构跟来自世界各地其他患者的样本作比较，以监测其变异状况。”

Schuchat said these efforts put the United States in a good position to produce a vaccine 7. "We have initiated 8 steps so that should we need to manufacture a vaccine, in terms of the U.S. government's role, we can work towards that goal very quickly," he said.

舒查特说，这些努力使得美国在制造疫苗方面占有利地位。她说：“我们率先采取了一些步骤，所以一旦我们需要制造疫苗时，我们就可以迅速向那个目标迈进。”

Dr. Dennis Carroll, a special adviser 9 on pandemics with the U.S. Agency for International Development said investments to prevent an avian flu epidemic helped lay the groundwork for the quick response to the H1N1 virus. But Dr. Carroll also warned of a broader and disturbing global trend relating to new diseases and animals.

美国国际开发署的流行病问题特别顾问丹尼斯.卡罗尔说，在预防禽流感方面所投入的资源打下了基础，有助于对H1N1病毒作出迅速反应。不过，卡罗尔博士也发出了警告，他说，这种新疫症和动物有关，它具有一种范围更为广泛的、令人不安的全球性趋势。

"In fact 75 percent of all new emergent diseases that have emerged in the past 50 years, their origin are animal," he said.

“事实上，在过去50年间新出现的疾病当中，有75%的疾病起源于动物。”

Carroll said the U.S. Agency for International Development is working in cooperation with other agencies to set up a global early warning system to detect and respond to brand new strains of virus and diseases across the world.

卡罗尔说，美国国际开发署正在跟其他部门合作，来建立一个全球早期预警系统，以便对新的病毒株和世界各地的疾病进行监测和预报。

Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health cautioned people will not have immunity 10 to new viruses. "Influenza virus are inherently unpredictable anyway. When you have a virus that you have never had experience with before, that compounds the unpredictability," he said.

美国国立卫生院的安东尼. 法乌西告诫说，人们不会对新病毒有免疫力。他说：“流行性感冒病毒具有不可预测的特性。当你染上以前从未经历过的一种病毒时，这就使得这种不可预测性造成更为复杂的后果。”

Fauci and Schuchat both warned that Americans should be prepared for the potential return of the H1NI virus later this year, possibly in a more severe form.

法乌西和舒查特都警告说，美国民众应该为H1N1病毒今年晚些时候可能卷土重来做好准备。