美玩具公司生產豬流感毛絨玩具
A swine flu soft toy has gone on sale on the internet - to help educate and reassure children about the potentially deadly virus.
The stuffed toy has been designed to represent a "cuddlier" version of an H1N1 microbe, complete with a pig-like nose and eyes.
The 7inch novelty is the latest creation of US-based doll company GIANTmicrobes, which specialises in producing huggable viruses and pests.
The firm's catalogue include soft toy interpretations of a range of sexually-transmitted infections including gonorrhea, syphilis and chlamydia.
It also sells furry representations of bed bugs, mad cow disease, , Ebola and MRSA.
The company describes its toys as "great learning tools, as well as amusing gifts for anyone with a sense of humour". Each purchase comes with an information leaflet with details of the relevant infection.
The swine flu dolls are even for sale in the gift shop at the Atlanta, headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control, the US government agency charged with monitoring the outbreak.
The toy, which is priced at $7.95, is available to British shoppers from the GIANTmicrobes website.
New swine flu cases are falling in Britain, but medics are predicting a second wave of the virus as temperatures fall in the Autumn. The number of UK deaths linked to the virus currently stands at 66.
近日，一款貌似“豬流感（病毒）”的布絨玩具在網上出售，其目的是就這一具有潛在致命性的病毒對兒童進行教育和撫慰。
這款毛絨玩具根據H1N1病菌的模樣設計，但它十分可愛，有着豬一樣的鼻子和眼睛，讓人一看就想摸。
“豬流感”玩具身長7英寸，是總部位於美國的“巨型微生物”玩具公司生產的一款最新產品，該公司主要生產以病毒和害蟲爲原型的可愛毛絨玩具。
該公司還生產過以各種性傳染病毒爲原型的毛絨玩具，包括淋病毒、梅毒和衣原體病毒。
此外，他們的產品還包括以臭蟲、瘋牛病、大腸桿菌、伊波拉病毒和MRSA病毒（譯者注：鼻腔中的一種病毒）爲原型的玩具。
該公司稱其所生產的玩具爲“很好的學習工具，而且可作爲奇趣禮物送給有幽默感的人”。每購買一個玩具就可得到一本與之相關的傳染病的信息手冊。
這款豬流感玩具現在在亞特蘭大的禮品店都可買到。亞特蘭大是美國疾病控制中心的總部所在地。這一政府機構專門負責監控豬流感疫情的爆發。
豬流感毛絨玩具每個售價7.95美元，英國民衆可登陸“巨型微生物”公司的網站購買。
近來英國的豬流感新增病例數呈下降趨勢，但據醫學專家預計，隨着秋季到來，氣溫下降，可能會出現第二輪病毒爆發。目前英國共有66人死於豬流感。
Vocabulary:
soft toy:毛絨玩具
cuddly: inviting cuddling or hugging 令人想擁抱的；逗人喜愛的
novelty: something new and unusual 新穎的事物
