VOA慢速英語:Irrigation Brings Malaria Along with Water

From VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report.

這里是美國之音慢速英語農業(yè)報道。

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.

灌溉系統(tǒng)在農業(yè)生產中能產生巨大差異。灌溉也能改善農民家庭的生活。然而，流向土壤的水中的附屬物可能會在某些地區(qū)造成問題。一項新研究介紹了灌溉用水如何造成可持續(xù)十年或更長時間的瘧疾病例的增加。

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.

瘧疾由蚊蟲傳播。蚊蟲喜歡在靜水中繁殖。因此當干燥地區(qū)被灌溉這種疾病就會開始出現(xiàn)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.

默西迪絲·帕斯奎爾(Mercedes Pascual)是美國密歇根大學的一名科學家。她和她的團隊研究了灌溉系統(tǒng)已經建成多年的印度北部地區(qū)。他們比較了瘧疾如何同灌溉的推廣一同發(fā)展。

"What happens is that when you irrigate, there is more, in a sense, more breeding habitats for the mosquito."

她說，“在某種意義上說，灌溉會產生更多的蚊蟲繁殖棲息地。”

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.

她和其他科學家發(fā)現(xiàn)，農民開始灌溉莊稼后，瘧疾的風險也大幅提升。起初，她的團隊認為，也許瘧疾病例數量的增加是因為控制能夠傳播疾病的蚊蟲的措施不夠。但他們錯了。

"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."

她說，“實際上我們看到的恰恰相反。這個過渡階段的特點不僅是瘧疾風險加劇，還包括有更多干預措施以控制蚊蟲媒介。”

Even after the mosquito control efforts were in place, the researchers found high rates of malaria continued for ten years or longer.

即使蚊蟲控制措施到位，研究人員照樣發(fā)現(xiàn)高發(fā)病率的瘧疾持續(xù)十年或更長時間。

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.

帕斯奎爾建議灌溉項目主管人員需要做更多工作減少蚊蟲可能繁殖的區(qū)域。她還表示，衛(wèi)生官員可能需要嘗試其它一些長期有效的預防瘧疾的方法。

"And what we are saying is that those measures have to be sustained, and sustained and also planned for, for the long term."

她說，“我們想說的是，這些措施必須是可持續(xù)的，同時是長期規(guī)劃的。”

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.

研究人員表示，灌溉在降雨量少的地區(qū)提供了可觀的回報。但帕斯奎爾女士和她的團隊發(fā)現(xiàn)灌溉也會帶來多年的瘧疾高發(fā)率。避免這一問題的唯一途徑是通過更好的規(guī)劃和控制措施。

A report on the study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

該研究報告發(fā)表在美國國家科學院院報上。