BEIJING, Nov. 25, 2005（Reuters）— China’s home-grown human bird flu vaccine① is at least a year away from hitting the market but tests on humans have been approved by the government, head of the research drug company said on Friday.
Development of the vaccine started last year after bird flu outbreaks in Thailand and Vietnam and animal trials have already been completed, said Yin Wei-dong, managing director of Sinovac Biotech.
“It is not a virus that is spreading from human to human，so we are very optimistic②,” Yin told Reuters in an interview.
The deadly H5N1 made its first known jump to humans in Hong Kong in 1997, killing six people. The virus appeared again in late 2003 and is known to have infected 130 people in several parts of Asia, killing 68 of them.
“It is not decided yet when the human trials will begin. We just got approval on November 22 by the State Food and Drug Administration,” Yin said.
Oregon, Nov. 26, 2005（AP）— The deadly strain of bird flu that appeared in Asia and has already spread to other parts of the world has not affected the Oregon poultry③ industry or consumers, according to Oregon State University researchers.
There are many strains of bird flu that do not usually infect humans. But one strain, called H5N1, has jumped from chickens to humans and is blamed for more than 60 deaths in Asia.
International disease control experts are worried about a worldwide outbreak of bird flu, raising concerns such as whether it is safe to eat poultry.
But Oregon State University researchers say there is no proof that the virus can jump to humans by eating cooked poultry products.
“Consumers needn’t be overly concerned about bird flu,” said Jim Hermes, OSU Extension Service poultry specialist. But he urged consumers to follow standard food safety practices in preparing poultry —including washing hands while preparing food, and proper cooking of poultry meat and eggs.
He noted that a 2003 outbreak of bird virus caused much damage to commercial poultry operations in California but did not get into Oregon because of industry safeguards.
Notes:
vaccine n. 疫苗
optimistic adj. 乐观的
poultry n. 家禽
Choose the best answers according to the above:
小题1: Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the first news report?
A．Human trials have already started but not yet successful.
B．Bird flu killed 68 Asian people in its second outbreak.
C．The bird flu virus is not one that spreads from human to human.
D．The government has agreed to have the vaccine tried on humans.小题2:What does the first news report mainly talk about?
A．The new outbreak of the bird flu.
B．How the development of the bird flu vaccine is going on.
C．How many people died of bird flu.
D．What measures the government has taken to stop the spreading of bird flu.小题3:What does the underlined word “strains” probably mean?
A．signs.
B．symbols.
C．kinds.
D．diseases.小题4:What can we know from the second news report?
A．Because of the safety guards, Oregon poultry industry didn’t suffer any loss in the 2003 outbreak of bird flu.
B．People in Oregon are not concerned about bird flu.
C．People will develop bird flu even if they eat well-cooked poultry products.
D．H5N1 has caused more than 60 deaths worldwide.
