2007年VOA标准英语-Health Officials Monitoring Rare Illness in Wes
时间：2019-02-03 作者：英语课 分类：2007年VOA标准英语（七月）
Hong Kong
11 July 2007
An obscure and non-fatal disease has been spreading among some Western Pacific islands. Joseph Popiolkowski reports from Hong Kong warmer weather and heavy rains have led to an increase in mosquito-borne illnesses in the region.
Mosquitos
Health officials are tracking incidents of a rare, but mild, disease known as Zika on Yap Island, which is part of Micronesia.
Zika's symptoms - skin rash, conjunctivitis, and joint 1 pain - are similar to the more serious and common dengue fever, which has infected tens of thousands of people in Southeast Asia this year.
Dr. Takeshi Kasai, an advisor 2 on communicable diseases for the World Health Organization, says the similarity between the two diseases initially 3 caused confusion among health officials.
"Originally this is reported as dengue-like illness," Dr. Kasai said. "But later we identified this is not dengue, but the virus called Zika virus causing this disease."
Outbreaks of dengue fever are ongoing 4 in Cambodia, Singapore, and the Philippines. Kasai says dengue is mostly reported between July and September, but this year has occurred earlier in the year and in greater densities 5.
Experts say this could be due to unusually wet and warm weather, which has resulted in a rise in diseases spread by mosquitoes such as Zika and dengue.
There have been no hospitalizations or deaths from Zika, which was first discovered in an Ugandan jungle in 1947.
Kasai said anecdotal reports, not yet confirmed, suggest isolated 6 cases of Zika have occurred in Malaysia and Indonesia. Scientists are monitoring the emergence 7 of the Zika infection and tracing its possible spread from Pacific islands into Southeast Asia.
- I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
- We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。
- They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
- The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。
- The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
- Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。
- The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
- The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。
- The range of densities of interest is about 3.5. 有用的密度范围为3．5左右。
- Densities presumably can be probed by radar. 利用雷达也许还能探测出气体的密度。
- His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
- Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。