VOA慢速英语:Irrigation Brings Malaria Along with Water

Irrigation systems can make a big difference in agricultural production. Irrigation can also improve the lives of farm families. However, the addition of water to the land or soil may cause problems in some areas. A new study describes how irrigation water can lead to an increase in malaria cases that could last for ten years or more.
灌溉系统在农业生产中会有很大不同。灌溉也能改善农民家庭的生活。然而，流向土壤的水中的附属物可能会导致在某些地区出现问题。一项新研究介绍了灌溉用水如何造成可持续十年或更长时间的疟疾病例的增加。

Malaria is spread by mosquitoes, the insects like to reproduce in standing water. So when a dry area is irrigated, the disease can appear and spread.
疟疾是由蚊子传播的。蚊虫喜欢在积水中繁殖。因此，当干燥地区被灌溉，这种疾病就会开始出现和蔓延。

Mercedes Pascual is a scientist at the University of Michigan. She and her team studied areas in northern India where irrigation systems were built over a number of years. They compared how malaria progressed with the spread of irrigation.
Mercedes Pascual是美国密歇根大学的科学家。她和她的团队研究了印度北部地区已经建成数年的灌溉系统。他们比较了疟疾如何同灌溉一同发展。

"What happens is that when you irrigate, there is more, in a sense, more breeding habitats for the mosquito."
“在某种意义上说，当你灌溉时会产生更多的蚊虫繁殖栖息地。”

She and the other scientist found that after farmers began irrigating their crops, the risk of malaria rose sharply. At first, her team thought maybe the number of cases rose because there was little effort to control the mosquitoes that spread the disease. But they were wrong.
她和其他科学家发现，农民开始灌溉他们的庄稼后，疟疾的风险也大幅上升。起初，她的团队认为，也许疟疾病例的上升是因为控制能够传播疾病的蚊虫的措施不够。但是他们错了。

"In fact, we saw the opposite. This transition stage was characterized not just by heightened malaria risk, but also by more intervention to control the mosquito vector."
“事实上，我们看到的恰恰相反。这个过渡阶段的特征，不只是疟疾风险加剧，而且应该 有更多干预措施以控制蚊子。”

Even after the mosquito control efforts were in place, the researchers found high rates of malaria continued for ten years or longer.
即使蚊虫控制工作到位，研究人员发现，高发病率的疟疾持续十年或更长时间。

Mercedes Pascual suggests that the irrigation project supervisors need to work more on reducing places where mosquitoes might reproduce. She also says health officials may need to try other methods of malaria prevention that would work for long periods of time.
Mercedes Pascual建议灌溉项目主管人员需要做更多工作，以减少蚊虫可能繁殖的地方。她还说，卫生官员可能需要尝试其它一些长期有效的预防疟疾的方法。

"And what we are saying is that those measures have to be sustained, and sustained and also planned for, for the long term."
“我们要说的是，这些措施必须是可持续的，而且是长期可持续的计划。”

In the words of the researchers, irrigation offers considerable rewards in areas with low rainfall. But as Mrs Pscual and her team discovered irrigation also can bring years of high rates of malaria. The only way to avoid the problem is through better planning and control measures.
研究人员称，灌溉在降雨量少的地区提供了可观的回报。但Pscual女士和她的团队发现灌溉也能带来多年的疟疾高发率。避免这一问题的唯一办法是通过更好的规划和控制措施。