時事短打!狂犬病疫情恐擴大，大家要小心。相關英文不可不知！

上圖可愛的麝香貓也是此次可能罹病的高危險群動物之一。這次的新聞讓我學會了很多算是冷門的動物名稱，就拿shrew來說好了，這種動物雖然中文稱之為錢鼠，但是它不是老鼠，而是食蟲目、尖鼠科。另外圖片中那麼可愛的civet則是麝香貓，(曾有人送過我麝香貓糞便做成的咖啡，據說是極品)，另外還有鼬獾，ferret-badger。

還有不曉得為什麼，我一直把狂犬病跟吸血鬼這兩件事情聯想在一起，可能是因為咬這個動作、還有致命性這件事吧。狂犬病至今無藥可醫，There is no known treatment to cure this disease once the infection has taken hold. 希望大家小心，我將這幾天的英文媒體報導整理好給各位閱讀。裡面有很多好用的字彙，如counter-measures對策、to vaccinate注射、to stop an outbreak/ to curb the spread of the disease阻止疫情擴散 。狂犬病可怕之處在於可以透過動物傳給人Rabies is transmittable from animals to humans and has the highest case fatality rate致命率最高，接近百分之百。小時候聽過狂犬病也可稱之為hydrophobia因為病發後會怕水，hydrophobia 就是恐水。英文的phobia(字根)有恐懼的意思，如claustrophobia幽閉恐懼症, xenophobia恐懼外國(人)以及懼高症acrophobia.

 全球一年有五萬五千人死於狂犬病，印度最多苦主。下面的文章中，大家也可以一併學習到狂犬病的症狀，其中腦炎這個單字，encephalitis大家應該會印象深刻。以前背托福單字，我記得字根有litis, 或是titis都有發炎的意思。如肝炎 hepatitis就是一例，還有胰腺炎pancreatitis。

下載此篇報導pdf版本請點我

Rabies resurfaces in Taiwan for 1st time in 50 years

狂犬病於半個世紀後重現台灣，疫情恐擴大，民眾聞病色變、人人自危

Rabies, a fatal disease that affects animals and humans, which is caused by由…造成 a neurotropic virus親神經的彈狀病毒, was recently detected in the remains of wild Formosan ferret-badgers鼬獾, a veterinary research獸醫研究 team confirmed yesterday.

Rabies is a zoonotic disease可傳人的動物型傳染病, which means it is transmittable from animals to humans. Rabies has the highest case fatality rate致命性最高 of any conventional infectious disease, approaching 100 percent.

Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine has stockpiled 100,000 doses of the vaccine and plans to import 80,000 more in late August, while veterinary medicine manufacturers have stockpiled 230,000 doses and plan to import 200,000 more.

Meanwhile, only 10 countries and regions around the world are free from沒有/不具 rabies: United Kingdom, Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Japan, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, and Guam.

The government has been fervently在此做積極解釋較好，原意為熱切地 inspecting the remains of possibly infected animals遭到感染的動物, including of a civet麝香貓 and a ferret-badger鼬獾 found in Yunlin and Nantou, respectively.

Another five Formosan ferret-badgers with rabies were confirmed yesterday, bringing the total to 11 since the virus reappeared in Taiwan. The BAPHIQ hopes to curb the spread of the disease阻止疫情擴散in mountainous areas.

The government has been strictly monitoring the development of rabies嚴密監控疫情發展; the goal is to prevent humans, dogs and cats from catching the disease”

Airdrop Vaccine Not Considered

When asked if the government will consider airdropping vaccinations空投活毒疫苗 into affected mountainous areas疫情爆發的山區, Chang said that people were reported to have contracted rabies after venturing into mountains進入山區 in the U.S. where the government had airdropped live vaccines to stop an outbreak阻止疫情擴散.(這一段指的是，外界有人建議仿效美國使用空投活毒疫苗乙事，農委會主委陳保基25日表示，世界動物衛生組織（OIE）並不推薦，因為是活毒疫苗，在野外有一定風險，美國只做了一次就重新評估。)

Although Taiwan's rabies vaccinations are inactivate非活毒疫苗 and pose no threat不造成威脅 to humans if airdropped, they are only effective via injections但是只能透過施打才有效力 and therefore will not be considered by the local government.

There are an estimated 1.5 million dogs and cats in the nation, 40 percent of which are required to be vaccinated必須注射疫苗 annually against rabies, said the BAPHIQ. Sixty thousand vaccinations are left from the 100,000 kept by the government for emergency use提供緊急使用, and an additional 300,000 will be imported at the end of August, the bureau added.

Taiwan Sunday called on呼籲 citizens to vaccinate接種 their pet cats and dogs against 對抗rabies as health officials衛生官員 stepped up 加快腳步attempts to combat試圖對抗 the deadly disease致命疾病 following a string of outbreaks一連串的疫情擴散 among wild ferret-badgers.

Taiwan is now listed as a rabies-affected狂犬病疫區 area by the Paris-headquartered總部位於巴黎的 World Organization for Animal health (OIE)世界動物衛生組織 after the island confirmed on July 17 that three infections had been found, the first outbreaks since 1959.

Those cases were recorded in central Taiwan but the later outbreaks were documented in the south and southeast part of the island, prompting促使 health authorities to take counter-measures對策including the vaccination of tens of thousands of成千上萬的 canines狗 and cats貓(felines).

Officials are particularly concerned that domestic cats and dogs家貓家狗 could become infected which would significantly increase the risk將會大幅增加風險 to humans.

Only 10 countries and regions in the world are listed as rabies-free無狂犬病區 and around 55,000 people die of the disease worldwide every year.

Symptoms in humans may include seizures痙攣, partial paralysis身體部分區域麻痺, fever高燒 and brain inflammation腦部發炎, or encephalitis腦炎. There is no known treatment to cure無藥可醫 rabies, once the infection has taken hold病發後.