AGRICULTURE REPORT - Treating Stress in Animals
AGRICULTURE REPORT
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January 22, 2002: Treating Stress in Animals
By George Grow
This is the VOA Special English AGRICULTURE REPORT.
People often experience stress as a result of events in their lives. Stress is a physical condition that results from
real or expected problems. People may experience stress when they lose a job or feel threatened. Common signs
include increased heart rate, higher blood pressure and muscle tension 2.
American agriculture experts say farm animals also may experience stress. Animals may experience stress after
giving birth or for other reasons. They say stress may affect meat quality, milk production and the health of farm
animals.
Experts say stress in animals is more difficult to identify. Farmers can look for signs
such as lower than expected body weight and increased risk of disease 3.
Ted 1 Elsasser is a scientist at the United States Agricultural Research Service. He is
studying a possible sign of stress in animals. He says changed proteins called
nitrated proteins may serve as an early warning system for the problem.
Currently 4, farmers use antibiotics 5 to treat stress in animals. However, repeated use
of use antibiotics can lead to bacteria that resist the drugs.
Mister 6 Elsasser is studying another method. He found that Vitamin E may protect farm animals against the
harmful effects of stress. In an experiment, he gave Vitamin E to six young cows. Then he injected the animals
with a harmful substance taken from the cell walls of bacteria. This toxin 7 causes the defense 8 system of the
animals to react as if an infection were present. The scientist injected six other calves 9 with only the toxin. Four
other cows did not receive the toxin or the Vitamin E.
Then Mister Elsasser studied the animals. All of the animals that received the toxin had lower levels of a natural
growth substance in their liver 10 and blood, compared with the untreated calves. However, the calves that were
given Vitamin E and the toxin had higher levels of the growth factor than those that received only the toxin. The
calves given vitamin E also recovered more quickly from the effects of the harmful substance.
Mister Elsasser says using Vitamin E helps support growth rates and may prevent some infections. He says being
able to prevent infections linked to stress could lead to lower medical costs and healthier farm animals.
This VOA Special English AGRICULTURE REPORT was written by George Grow.
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- The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
- She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。
- I could feel the tension in the room. 我可以感觉到房间里的紧张气氛。
- Relaxaion is better than tension. 缓和比紧张好。
- The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
- He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。
- Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
- Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。
- the discovery of antibiotics in the 20th century 20世纪抗生素的发现
- The doctor gave me a prescription for antibiotics. 医生给我开了抗生素。
- Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
- He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。
- Experts have linked this condition to a build-up of toxins in the body.专家已把这一病症与体内毒素的积累联系起来。
- Tests showed increased levels of toxin in shellfish.检验表明水生有壳动物的毒素水平提高了。
- 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。