The toll (人數) from polio in Xinjiang is expected to rise beyond the 17 known cases, the World Health Organization warns.
The virus that claimed the health of (note 1) nine adults and eight children aged from four months to two years is linked to the wild polio virus type 1 circulating in Pakistan, said Oliver Rosenbauer, the WHO spokesman for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in Geneva.
"My bet (note 2) is we will see more cases," Rosenbauer said. "Certainly it will not be surprising."
WHO director-general Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun told The Standard earlier that the virus likely reached Xinjiang from neighboring Pakistan.
The Ministry of Health in Beijing informed the WHO on August 26 that wild polio had been isolated in four youngsters with the onset of (note 3) paralysis (癱瘓) between July 3 and 19.
But last month it reported 10 polio cases from three prefectures (縣) in the south of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
A WHO team is in Xinjiang to help control the outbreak.
China was said to be virtually (幾乎) polio-free (note 4) by 1994.
The last reported wild polio virus case in the country, in 1999, was linked to India.
"Because of an ongoing endemic circulation in Pakistan you run the risk that a polio-free area becomes re-infected (重新受感染)," Rosenbauer noted.
But he does not think Hong Kong faces an obvious risk, given the high immunization coverage and surveillance (高度的防疫制度或監察) here.
As for Xinjiang, Rosenbauer does not expect polio to "spread like wildfire" (note 5) like it did last year in Takijistan, which saw about 400 people taken ill.
But it might be a year or more before it can be said to have been beaten back (擊退).
From good to better English:
(note 1) claimed the lives of=殺害 (kill)。claim =斷言；聲稱，自稱。claim expenses= 索取費用。claim for damages = 要求賠償損失 。no claims = 無權要求。claim a victory=聲稱取得勝利。claim a reward=要求報酬。Claim的同義詞有affirm, allege, argue, assert, asseverate, aver, avouch, avow, contend, declare, hold, maintain, say, state等。
(note 2) My bet=斷定, 我的意見是。My bet is that Julian won't come=我看Julian不會來了。A heavy [paltry] bet=大[小]賭。I'll bet my life=我敢用生命擔保；當然，保管沒錯。Do you ever bet? Victor asks Bo Bo= Victor 問Bo Bo, 你和人家打過賭嗎？
(note 3) with the onset of=出現, 病發作 (A beginning; a start)。onset的同義詞有 beginning, birth, commencement, dawn, genesis, inception, nascence, nascency, opening, origin, outset, spring, start等。
(note 4) polio-free=沒有小兒麻痹症。feel free= 無需拘束, 不要客氣。for free= 免費。free association = 自由聯想 。free from= 沒有, 免於。free from blame = 解除責備, 免責。 free love = 自由戀愛 。free rein = 完全的行動自由。 free speech= 言論自由 。free will = 自由意志, 自由抉擇。 give someone a free hand = 放手讓某人做。.
(note5 ) spread like wildfire=像野火一樣散播。
Victor’s View: Polio is a terrible disease. We must ensure that it won’t spread to Hong Kong from Xinjiang.
(Victor Fung Keung, director of HK Baptist University’s M.A. in international journalism program, has published 4 books on English-enhancement [the latest, titled <<學會演說、改變你的人生>>, was published on July 18] and plans to write 6 more by the end of 2012. Write to him: deanfungenglish@gmail.com)
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