中國網(wǎng)站品牌欄目（頻道）
英語學習論壇的“聽力練習區(qū)”正式與大家見面啦。歡迎大家來這里練習聽力，交流經(jīng)驗，共同進步。
本練習區(qū)的音頻文件選自英語點津的“聽中國日報”、“VOA常速”、“流行金曲”及“名人演講”等欄目，題材豐富，難度各異，適合不同階段的英語學習者。
英語點津會定期發(fā)布音頻材料，大家可以在跟帖中貼出自己聽寫出的音頻文字稿。每個音頻材料的標準文字稿會在帖子發(fā)布兩天后公布。
Health experts have assured consumers that Chinese pork is still safe despite reports of pigs being infected with the deadly A/H1N1 flu.
Swine at a slaughterhouse in Heilongjiang province tested positive for the virus last Thursday, the Ministry of Agriculture revealed over the weekend.
Four positive samples were discovered at the abattoir in Shuangcheng by a local flu laboratory, China News Service quoted a ministry statement as saying.
Officials suggested the cause of infection could have been the animals' close contact with humans during transportation.
Gene sequence analysis showed the virus suffered by the pigs is a 99-percent match with the human H1N1 strain. No mutation was found, the government statement said.
It is the first such infection in China, although there have already been reports in 13 other countries and regions, Beijing Times reported yesterday.
However, experts with the World Health Organization (WHO) insisted well-prepared pork is still safe to eat because the virus cannot survive temperatures of 70 C and above.
China consumed more than 46 million tons of pork last year, around half of the world's total.
Since the outbreak of H1N1 in April, prevention and monitoring of swine has been a priority for the government. The virus was originally known as "swine flu" before it was renamed to dispel any links with pigs.
The information office of the Ministry of Agriculture was unable to comment yesterday, but in a statement last week officials said authorities across China had checked about 87 million pigs, but no influenza virus had been detected.
Meanwhile, four patients in North Carolina in the United States tested positive over the weekend for a new H1N1 strain that is resistant to oseltamivir, or Tamiflu, AP reported.
Tamiflu is one of two flu medicines being used in the fight against H1N1 and health officials have been watching for signs of the virus mutating, making the drugs ineffective.
More than 50 resistant cases have been reported since April, including 21 in the US. Almost all in the US were isolated, officials with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
London-based BBC reported five Tamiflu-resistant cases in Wales last week.
The Norwegian Institute of Public Health also said it had detected mutations in three positive samples. The viruses were isolated from the country's first two fatal cases and one other patient.
Norwegian scientists have analyzed samples from more than 70 patients, but only three have mutations been detected. This suggests the mutation is not widespread, say scientists.
Laboratories in Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Ukraine and the US have all detected similar mutations, with the earliest being in April.
Although information is incomplete, the mutations were detected in fatal, as well as mild cases. Experts said the significance of the finding is unclear.
As of Friday, the virus had killed 6,770 people worldwide since April, with 520 deaths in the past week, according to figures released by the WHO yesterday.
（英語點津 Helen 編輯）
About the broadcaster:
Lee Hannon is Chief Editor at China Daily with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.
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