The Anthropology of Infectious Disease

321 Pages·2014·2.28 MB·English

by  Merrill Singer

Anthropology of Infectious Disease
Honoring his landmark contributions to the anthropological study of infectious
disease and to the biocultural synthesis that has guided such work, this book is
dedicated to the memory and inspiration of George J. Armelagos, 1936–2014.
Merrill Singer
The
anthropology
of
infectious
disease
Walnut Creek
CAlifornia
Left Coast Press, Inc.
1630 North Main Street, #400
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
www.LCoastPress.com
Copyright © 2015 by Left Coast Press, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.
ISBN 978-1-62958-043-2 (hardback)
ISBN 978-1-62958-044-9 (paperback)
ISBN 978-1-62958-045-6 (institutional ebook)
ISBN 978-1-62958-046-3 (consumer ebook)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Singer, Merrill.
Anthropology of infectious disease / Merrill Singer.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-62958-043-2 (hardback)—
ISBN 978-1-62958-044-9 (paperback)—
ISBN 978-1-62958-045-6 (institutional ebook)—
ISBN 978-1-62958-046-3 (consumer ebook)
1. Communicable diseases. 2. Medical anthropology. I. Title.
RA643.S56 2015
616.9—dc23
2014030349
Printed in the United States of America
∞ ™ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48–1992.
Cover design by Piper Wallis
Cover photo by Laura R. Wagner
Contents
List of Illustrations 7
Acknowledgments 9
IntroduCtIon
Anthropology and the Large Impact of Small Worlds 11
Chapter one
Defining the Anthropology of Infectious Disease: Toward a Biocultural/
Biosocial Understanding 20
Chapter two
Denizens of the Microbial World 60
Chapter three
More Than Human 101
Chapter Four
Environmental Disruption, Pluralea Interactions, and Infectious
Diseases 125
Chapter FIve
Emergent, Reemergent, and Drug-Resistant Infectious Agents 156
Chapter sIx
Infectious Disease Syndemics 196
Chapter seven
Inequality, Political Ecology, and the Future of Infectious Diseases 225
Glossary 267
References 284
Index 315
About the Author 320
illustrations
figures
Figure I.1 19th century illustration of Herpes gladiatorium skin
infection 12
Figure 1.1 Early 20th century photo of urban poverty entitled “A
Consumptive Mother and Her Two Children at Work” 43
Figure 1.2 Aegypti mosquito lava in research laboratory 50
Figure 1.3 Physician in the Philippines being instructed about the Aedes
aegypti mosquito 54
Figure 2.1 Stromatolites in Australia 62
Figure 2.2 Centers for Disease Control measles immunization poster 71
Figure 2.3 Staphylococcus 79
Figure 2.4 Sucking Anopheles mosquito 89
Figure 2.5 1960s public health message 96
Figure 3.1 Trichinella spiralis, a parasitic worm 106
Figure 3.2 HIV testing in Lesotho in Southern Africa 113
Figure 3.3 Human immunodeficiency virus 114
Figure 4.1 Schistosomiasis prevention poster 129
Figure 4.2 Access to clean water is a significant factor in infectious risk:
Lesotho in Southern Africa 130
Figure 4.3 Tripartite model of biosocial penetration 131
Figure 4.4 Risk of water-borne infectious diseases 132
Figure 4.5 Water-borne disease routes, dog drinking from dishwashing
bucket at open air market in Quito, Ecuador 142
Figure 4.6 Urban breeding ground for infectious diseases, Cite Soleil,
Haiti 144
Figure 4.7 Wall mural on cholera epidemic in Haiti 145
Figure 4.8 Cholera prevention billboard in Haiti 146
Figure 4.9 Pathogenic agent of bubonic plague 154
Figure 5.1 Smallpox vaccination 158
Figure 5.2 Polio eradication campaign, Kolkata, India 159
Figure 5.3 Oral poliovirus vaccine administration 161
Figure 5.4 1940s malaria control in Teheran, Iran 165
Figure 5.5 Infectious disease researcher, Iquitos, Peru 168
Figure 5.6 X-ray of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection X-ray 170
Figure 5.7 Unrefrigerated meat for sale in open air market in Quito,
Ecuador 175
Figure 5.8 In the midst of the cholera epidemic crabs for sale in the open air
market in Quito, Ecuador 183
Figure 6.1 Influenza and tuberculosis prevention poster, Rensselaer
Country Tuberculosis Association 202
Figure 6.2 The SAVA syndemic 214
Figure 6.3 Injection drug use emerged as an important route of HIV
infection 216
Figure 7.1 Prevention poster used in theaters in Chicago during the 1918
influenza pandemic 251
Figure 7.2 Biosafety Level 4 infectious disease laboratory worker wearing
protective gear 254
Figure 7.3 Cutaneous anthrax lesions on a man infected with the
bacterium Bacillus anthracis 256
tables
Table 1.1 Components of the anthropology of infectious disease 37
Table 2.1 Pathogenic sources of various diseases 68
Table 3.1 Tickborne diseases of the U.S. 116
Table 4.1 Infectious diseases that are spreading because of global
warming 135
Table 5.1 Pathogens studied as possible agents for use in biological
warfare 193
9
acknowledgement
Deep appreciation is extended to Jennifer Collier Jennings, my editor at Left
Coast Press. I would be a very rich man if I had a dollar for all of the suggested
changes she provided for this book.