Brazilian Scientists Work to Vaccinate Endangered Monkeys
2023-02-13
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Animal experts in Brazil are treating endangered wild monkeys with a vaccine against yellow fever.
2The disease is severely threatening the golden lion tamarin population.
3The little monkeys live in the rainforest of southeastern Brazil. They weigh about one kilogram.
4Yellow fever began to spread in Brazil in 2016. More than 2,000 people got sick, and 750 died.
5Monkeys got sick, too. The disease killed about one-third of the golden lion tamarin population.
6And, the population was small even before the outbreak.
7So, scientists created a vaccine to protect the monkeys.
8The vaccination campaign began last year.
9So far, about 300 animals have gotten shots and are reported to be doing well.
10But, the treatment represents a change in thinking among supporters of wildlife conservation.
11Historically, conservationists have believed that humans should not interfere directly with wildlife.
12A traditional saying in the world of conservation work is "Leave it be."
13Vaccinating animals to protect their species from extinction is a new idea, said Luis Paulo Ferraz, President of the Golden Lion Tamarin Association.
14The non-profit group is working to save the monkeys.
15The vaccination effort has raised questions about how far humans should go to save wild animals.
16Some conservationists now believe humans should use their latest scientific developments to save animals.
17They argue that humanity already negatively interferes with animals all over the world by developing in areas where they live.
18So, if humans have the ability to help animals with a shot, they should do so.
19Tony Goldberg is a scientist and animal doctor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
20He believes in vaccinating wild animals when possible.
21"There are people who say we shouldn't touch nature, that we shouldn't alter anything.
22But really, there are no pristine natural habitats left," he said.
23People are "realizing they have to do something," he added.
24Carlos R. Ruiz-Miranda agrees.
25He is a biologist at the State University of Northern Rio de Janeiro.
26He has been working to protect the monkeys.
27The scientist explained how human movement is mainly responsible for the fast and wide spread of yellow fever.
28"This epidemic moved very quickly from north to south, across the country - no wildlife does that," said Ruiz-Miranda.
29"It's people. They cross vast distances in buses, trains, planes. They bring the disease with them."
30"We realized that in five years, we could lose the entire population if we did nothing" said Ferraz, of the Golden Lion Tamarin Association.
31Andreia Martins is a biologist for the Golden Lion Tamarin Association.
32It was only because of her work that people knew how many monkeys died from the recent spread of yellow fever.
33The first monkey died in 2018, and then the total number of tamarins dropped to 2,500.
34At the time of the yellow fever outbreak, Marcos da Silva Freire was a deputy director of technological development at Brazil's Oswaldo Cruz Foundation.
35It oversees vaccine testing and production in the country.
36Freire organized testing of yellow fever vaccines for monkeys with the Primate Center of Rio de Janeiro.
37The vaccine led to antibodies in the tested monkeys and caused no harm, the scientists found.
38Freire and his team won government approval to treat wild golden lion tamarins soon after.
39So far, about 300 have been vaccinated and are reported to be doing well.
40Tests show that more than 90 percent of the monkeys have immunity, or resistance to the virus, since vaccination.
41The outbreak of yellow fever is no longer a big problem for the monkeys, and their population is starting to come back.
42But, even with the success of the vaccine program, scientists are still not sure about creating vaccines for other animals.
43Jacob Negrey is a biologist who studies monkeys.
44He works at Wake Forest University's medical school.
45He wondered about unpredictable effects of such wildlife treatment.
46He explained that you might create a treatment that helps one kind of animal, but hurts another.
47I'm Dan Friedell. And I'm Dorothy Gundy.
1Animal experts in Brazil are treating endangered wild monkeys with a vaccine against yellow fever. The disease is severely threatening the golden lion tamarin population. 2The little monkeys live in the rainforest of southeastern Brazil. They weigh about one kilogram. 3Yellow fever began to spread in Brazil in 2016. More than 2,000 people got sick, and 750 died. 4Monkeys got sick, too. The disease killed about one-third of the golden lion tamarin population. And, the population was small even before the outbreak. So, scientists created a vaccine to protect the monkeys. 5The vaccination campaign began last year. So far, about 300 animals have gotten shots and are reported to be doing well. But, the treatment represents a change in thinking among supporters of wildlife conservation. 6Historically, conservationists have believed that humans should not interfere directly with wildlife. A traditional saying in the world of conservation work is "Leave it be." 7Vaccination idea 8Vaccinating animals to protect their species from extinction is a new idea, said Luis Paulo Ferraz, President of the Golden Lion Tamarin Association. The non-profit group is working to save the monkeys. 9The vaccination effort has raised questions about how far humans should go to save wild animals. Some conservationists now believe humans should use their latest scientific developments to save animals. 10They argue that humanity already negatively interferes with animals all over the world by developing in areas where they live. So, if humans have the ability to help animals with a shot, they should do so. 11Tony Goldberg is a scientist and animal doctor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He believes in vaccinating wild animals when possible. 12"There are people who say we shouldn't touch nature, that we shouldn't alter anything. But really, there are no pristine natural habitats left," he said. People are "realizing they have to do something," he added. 13Carlos R. Ruiz-Miranda agrees. He is a biologist at the State University of Northern Rio de Janeiro. He has been working to protect the monkeys. 14The scientist explained how human movement is mainly responsible for the fast and wide spread of yellow fever. 15"This epidemic moved very quickly from north to south, across the country - no wildlife does that," said Ruiz-Miranda. "It's people. They cross vast distances in buses, trains, planes. They bring the disease with them." 16"We realized that in five years, we could lose the entire population if we did nothing" said Ferraz, of the Golden Lion Tamarin Association. 17Andreia Martins is a biologist for the Golden Lion Tamarin Association. It was only because of her work that people knew how many monkeys died from the recent spread of yellow fever. The first monkey died in 2018, and then the total number of tamarins dropped to 2,500. 18At the time of the yellow fever outbreak, Marcos da Silva Freire was a deputy director of technological development at Brazil's Oswaldo Cruz Foundation. It oversees vaccine testing and production in the country. 19Freire organized testing of yellow fever vaccines for monkeys with the Primate Center of Rio de Janeiro. The vaccine led to antibodies in the tested monkeys and caused no harm, the scientists found. Freire and his team won government approval to treat wild golden lion tamarins soon after. 20So far, about 300 have been vaccinated and are reported to be doing well. Tests show that more than 90 percent of the monkeys have immunity, or resistance to the virus, since vaccination. 21The outbreak of yellow fever is no longer a big problem for the monkeys, and their population is starting to come back. But, even with the success of the vaccine program, scientists are still not sure about creating vaccines for other animals. 22Jacob Negrey is a biologist who studies monkeys. He works at Wake Forest University's medical school. He wondered about unpredictable effects of such wildlife treatment. He explained that you might create a treatment that helps one kind of animal, but hurts another. 23I'm Dan Friedell. And I'm Dorothy Gundy. 24Dan Friedell adapted this story for VOA Learning English based on a report by the Associated Press. 25_______________________________________________________________ 26Words in This Story 27extinction -n. the situation where a plant or animal has died out completely 28negatively -adj. to have a bad effect on something 29alter -v. to change something 30pristine -adj. perfect or untouched/changed 31habitat -n. the place where something lives 32_____________________________________________________________ 33We want to hear from you. Do you think scientists will be able to help more animals? 34We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 35Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.