VOA常速英语:2016年困扰世界的三种病毒

Zika is such a mild illness that most people don’t know they have it.But in the past two years, a search of babies born with extremely small heads showed the world that Zika is anything but harmless.

The virus originated in Uganda more than 60 years ago, and recently emerged in Brazil,then surged north to Florida and possibly to Texas.

Dr. Anthony Costello, with the World Health Organization,said even one affected child has a very big impact on the community and a family’s ability to cope.

“It’s a public health problem of huge concern for the world.Sixty-nine countries have seen Zika virus emerge in the last two years.We are talking about a virus that causes brain damage and potentially lifelong disability, which is a huge blow to families.”

Right now, doctors can only advise women not to travel to areas where the virus is spreading,to avoid mosquito bites or to delay pregnancy.There is no vaccine against Zika, but one could be available in 2018.

In Nigeria, the polio virus re-emerged in the violence-wracked northern part of the country,where it’s hard to ensure every child gets vaccinated.Three children were diagnosed with the disease just when Nigeria was thought to be close to becoming polio-free.

The virus also exists in another conflict zone: along the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan.Those behind the effort say they are determined to eliminate the disease.Polio cases have decreased by over 99 percent since 1988, from about 350,000 cases then to less than three dozen in 2016.

At the beginning of December,the National Institutes of Health announced the start of a major trial of an experimental vaccine against the AIDS virus.

“An HIV vaccine is not going to be easy.We may not even know if we’re going to get a vaccine.”Fauci described the advances in AIDS treatment as nothing short of spectacular.

“Today, the combinations of therapies we have for individuals —for someone who is in their 20s and gets infected and comes in and gets on a combination of drugs —you could predict that they could live an additional 50 years (Five zero).That is one of the most extraordinary advances in the transition from basic research to an applicable intervention in any field of medicine.”

If an effective vaccine can be found,it could finally mean the end for a virus that has infected more than 70 million people and killed 35 million people over the past half-century.

Carol Pearson, VOA News, Washington.