关于非典和禽流感的英语新闻报道

关于非典和禽流感的英语新闻报道
关于非典和禽流感的英语新闻报道

关于非典和禽流感的英语新闻报道
SARS outbreak a catalyst for health security change,experts say
In the chaotic maelstrom of the 2003 SARS outbreak,it would have been impossible to imagine there might be an upside of a disease that sickened thousands,killed 774 and brought health-care systems to the brink.
And yet,many in public health would now argue the world has benefited from making the acquaintance of severe acute respiratory syndrome.
"I really do think it was a wake-up call for Canadians and the public health system - not only in Canada,but throughout the world," says federal Health Minister Tony Clement,who was Ontario's health minister during the crisis.
Changes internationally and nationally have followed the outbreak,which showed politicians and public health authorities alike how frail response systems were.
On the international front,the memory of SARS and the threat of H5N1 avian flu that followed hard on its heels spurred an updating of the International Health Regulations.
"It helped us to move ahead with a resolution that facilitated our continuing the revision of the international health regulations and resulted in a much stronger set of regulations internationally," says Dr.David Heymann,the World Health Organization's assistant director general for health security and environment.
The IHR,as they are called,are rules outlining the responsibilities countries have to report and control infectious diseases.The revised IHR came into effect last year.
Nationally,the crisis led to creation of the Public Health Agency of Canada and the post of chief public health officer.The move,recommended by the first inquiry into SARS,the Naylor Report,was designed to give public health concerns more prominence and priority than they could get under the management of Health Canada.
There has also been a beefing up of the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg,with construction of a state of the art emergency operations centre and expansion of the lab's expertise in development of new vaccines.The Public Health Agency's first head,Dr.David Butler-Jones,says despite the passage of time,there is an enduring priority placed on emergency preparedness that can be traced back to SARS.
"If there's a silver lining out of SARS,it is that it did become part of the political,policy,public health and public consciousness that we have to be serious about these issues and we can't just wait for problems to happen to respond," says Butler-Jones,who was practising medicine in Saskatchewan in 2003 and was not part of the SARS response.
"There are lots of countries that were not touched by SARS ...and they can't get the traction on the very same issues because for whatever reason it's not felt to be real.It was a problem in Canada or a problem in Asia,not their problem."
Bird flu expert urges vigilance in China
HONG KONG,March 11 (Reuters) - A Chinese expert on respiratory diseases says the H5N1 bird flu virus has shown signs of mutation and urged vigilance at a time when seasonal human influenza is at a peak,newspapers reported on Tuesday.
"When avian flu is around and human flu appears,this will raise the chances of avian flu turning into a human flu.We have to be very alert and careful in March," Zhong Nanshan was quoted by the Ming Pao newspaper as saying.
"People who were killed by bird flu last year and this year were too poor to seek treatment.If you happen to have high fever and pneumonia,you must seek treatment fast," said Zhong,director of the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases in China's southern Guangdong province.
Experts are worried about seasonal flu,because it could get mixed up with a deadly novel strain,such as the H5N1 bird flu virus.Such a hybrid would not only become easily transmissible between people,but packed with great killing power.
"The bird flu virus has shown signs of mutation.If infected people don't get treatment in a timely manner,they can die easily," Zhong was quoted as telling reporters on the sidelines of the Chinese parliament's annual meeting.
But World Health Organisation (WHO) spokesman Gregory Hartl played down Zhong's concerns.
"Mutations occur in influenza viruses.Separately from that,the (bird flu) virus continues to be deadly.But there is no new jump in deadliness," Hartl said in Geneva.
Three Chinese have died this year of H5N1 bird flu and they were infected probably through contact with sick poultry.The World Health Organisation said there was no evidence of transmission between humans in all three cases.
HONG KONG SHUTS SCHOOL
In Hong Kong,the government shut a primary school early ahead of the Easter holidays after one of its students,a 7-year-old boy,died at noon on Tuesday.The boy was admitted to hospital last week with flu-like symptoms and authorities are still trying to determine the cause of his illness.
Thomas Tsang,controller of the Centre for Health Protection,said five other pupils at the school have been admitted to hospital for respiratory infection and their conditions were stable.Three samples have tested positive for influenza A,Tsang said,without specifying the strain.
"The school will close early for Easter from tomorrow ...to facilitate disinfection," Tsang told a news conference.But he said there was no reason to close all schools in Hong Kong,although they would monitor the situation closely.
Hong Kong,which lies at the south of China,is in the grip of a seasonal flu peak,with outbreaks reported in a growing number of schools.
A 3-year-old girl died last week of human H3N2 flu and authorities have ordered schools to conduct fever checks and advise those who are unwell to stay home.
Although the H5N1 virus has infected only 372 people around the world since 2003,its mortality rate has been high,killing 235 of them.(Additional reporting by Donny Kwok in Hong Kong and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)