The viral network : a pathography of the H1N1 influenza pandemic

247 Pages·2014·3.832 MB·English

by  Theresa MacPhail

The Viral Network
E X P E RT I SE
CULTURES AND
TECHNOLOGIES
OF KNOWLEDGE
edited by dominic boyer
A list of titles in this series is available at www.cornellpress.cornell.edu .
The Viral Network
A Pathography of the H1N1
Infl uenza Pandemic
Theresa MacPhail
Cornell University Press
Ithaca and London
Copyright © 2014 by Cornell University
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or
parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in
writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University
Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.
First published 2014 by Cornell University Press
First printing, Cornell Paperbacks, 2014
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
MacPhail, Theresa, 1972– author.
The viral network : a pathography of the H1N1 infl uenza pandemic /
Theresa MacPhail.
pages cm. — (Expertise)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ).
ISBN 978-0-8014-5240-6 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-8014-7983-0 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. H1N1 infl uenza. 2. Epidemics—Social aspects. 3. Public health—
Social aspects. 4. Medical anthropology. I. Title.
RA644.I6M33 2014
614.5'18—dc23 2014025187
Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible
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Cloth printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Paperback printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
List of Abbreviations xi
Prologue to a Pathography 1
1. Seeing the Past or Telling the Future? On the Origins
of Pandemics and the Phylogeny of Viral Expertise 18
2. The Invisible Chapter (Work in the Lab) 48
3. Quarantine, Epidemiological Knowledge, and Infectious
Disease Research in Hong Kong 75
4. The Siren’s Song of Avian Infl uenza: A Brief History
of Future Pandemics 108
5. The Predictable Unpredictability of Viruses and the Concept
of “Strategic Uncertainty” 132
6. The Anthropology of Good Information: Data Deluge,
Knowledge, and Context in Global Public Health 152
vi Contents
7. The Heretics of Microbiology: Charisma, Expertise,
Disbelief, and the Production of Knowledge 179
Epilogue 204
Notes 213
References 223
Acknowledgments
W riting an acknowledgments section is a very daunting task. So many
individuals and institutions are responsible for the production of this book
that I am at a loss as to where to begin my thanks. However, this project
would not have been possible at all without the generosity of the epidemi-
ologists and scientists who allowed me to observe them, to participate in
their day-to-day lives, to interview them, to learn their lab techniques, and
to share their bevy of knowledge and experience with me. My sincerest
gratitude goes out to them—both for letting me work with them and, more
importantly, for their tireless efforts to keep all of us safer. The men and
women who work in public health are, I can attest, some of the most dedi-
cated, smart, unfl agging, and overworked people on this planet. If it weren’t
for them, we’d all be a lot sicker. Special thanks to Rohit Chitale, Kira Chris-
tian, Mike Schwartz, Fred Leung, and most importantly, Ray Arthur.
I would also like to extend a special thanks to Chris Ansell and Ann
Keller at the University of California, Berkeley, who supported part of
this research with their National Science Foundation grant. It was under
viii Acknowledgments
their auspices that I began this research and I will be forever indebted to
both of them for their insights, guidance, and support. As well, I’d like
to extend thanks to the interdisciplinary team of researchers that worked
together to collect data for the project: Erik Baaskeslov, Sahai Burrowes,
and Mark Hunter. Especially Mark, who provided me with the amazing
timeline that appears in the introduction to this book.
While in California, I was fortunate to have some excellent mentors
and readers of my work: the indefatigable Vincanne Adams, Cori Hayden,
Kevin O’Brien, Lawrence Cohen, Sharon Kaufman, Charles Briggs, and
Nancy Scheper-Hughes. At New York University, I was privileged to learn
strategies for success from Robin Nagle, Robert Dimit, Rayna Rapp, and
Emily Martin. My writing here would not have progressed as smoothly
without them. I also want to thank my compatriots at New York Univer-
sity who provided me with happy hours, movies, conversation, laughter,
and all the miscellaneous distractions so crucial to good thinking: Mario
Caro, Alan Itkin, Georgia Lowe, Steve Moga, and Amber Musser. The
Ph.D. candidates in my two-week intensive writing workshops at NYU
were often an invaluable source of inspiration; my gratitude to Laurie
Benton, Kathy Talvecchia, and Anne Bernadette-Waters for giving me
the opportunity to mentor these beginning scholars as I fi nished writing
this book.
Institutional support for both my research and my writing was provided
by the University of California, Berkeley, and the D. Kim Foundation.
A version of chapter 5 was published as “A Predictable Unpredictability:
The 2009 H1N1 Pandemic and the Concept of ‘Strategic Uncertainty’
within Global Public Health,” Behemoth 3 (3): 55–77.
A very special thanks must go to Xin Liu, who not only taught me
how to ask the right questions, but counseled that answers are always to
be found while reading another book, doing more research, and writing.
Another special thanks to Tim Choy, who provided me with the solidarity
and insights that could only come from a fellow Hong Kong scholar. His
notes on my Hong Kong chapters made all the difference. Andrew La-
koff also could not have been more helpful, nor a better champion for my
work. And then, of course, there is the person who fi rst started me on my
anthropological wanderings: Stefan Helmreich. Without him, I’d prob-
ably still be a journalist. Infi nite gratitude is due my series editor, Dominic
Boyer, without whom this book would be a pale shadow of itself. Dominic,
Acknowledgments ix
in sum, coached and pestered and encouraged me into being a far better
scholar and academic writer. I thank him for encouraging me to be both
bold and more concise. And thanks, too, to editor Peter Potter, who recog-
nized the early potential of this project.
And fi nally, the personal thanks. To Eric Plemons, the best writing
partner anyone has ever had, a “thank you” doesn’t even begin to cover
it. My brilliant friend Matt Lawlor, scientist extraordinaire, took the time
to painstakingly check my explanations of the virus’s biology. I owe him
many libations. To the wonderful women of the Science and Technology
Studies writing group: Jade Sasser, Martine Lappe, Katie Hasson, Rachel
Washburn. To Sam Howard-Spink, for coffee and jelly bean breaks. To
my University of California, Berkeley friends, who continue to provide
me with inspiration, but especially: James Battle, Shana Harris, Andy Hao,
Katie Hendy, Liz Kelley, Kelly Knight, Xochitl Marsilli Vargas, Amelia
Moore, Suepattra May Slater, and Emily Wilcox. To my chosen family,
without whom I could do nothing well: Pat, Cara, Rebecca, Robin, Mark,
Annika, Jan Fak, Glen, Jon, Martha, Jason, Andrea, and Hugh. To Sloan,
a special thank you for putting up with me during fi eldwork and my dis-
sertation process, and for reminding me on a weekly basis that I am a solid
writer. I hope I can return the favor someday.
And fi nally, to Kyle Levenick, for showing me how to say “yes” more
often in the long-form improvisation that is life.