Do you know star anise? It has a Chinese name “bajiao”(八角). You can find this spice(调味料) in almost all Chinese kitchens. Suddenly people around the world need the small fruit from which the spice is made, because of bird flu(禽流感).  Bird flu has made tens of millions of birds die and killed at least 60 people in Asia. Scientists say if flu changes to spread from person to person, it could kill millions! A medicine called Tamiflu(达菲) is supposed to fight bird flu in humans. Roche, a Swiss company, developed it. But Roche says it hasn’t enough raw material(原料) to make lots of Tamiflu. The material is the Chinese spice star anise. About 90% of the world’s star anise is produced in South China. The fruit is harvested(丰收) between March and May. Besides spice, people also use it as medicine. People afraid of bird flu have begun to buy star anise and cook chicken and other meat with it more. But so far, no scientists say the spice could give protection(保护). Some scientists say that eating the fruit itself won’t help against bird flu. 小题1:Most world’s star anise is produced in .
|