Avian Influenza. An Anthropological Perspective on a Contemporary Crisis
- Funded by Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)
- Total publications:0 publications
Grant number: 114599
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Key facts
Disease
Pandemic-prone influenzaStart & end year
20062007Known Financial Commitments (USD)
$62,782.5Funder
Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF)Principal Investigator
Carlo CaduffResearch Location
SwitzerlandLead Research Institution
Deparment of Anthropology University of California, BerkeleyResearch Priority Alignment
N/A
Research Category
13
Research Subcategory
N/A
Special Interest Tags
N/A
Study Type
Non-Clinical
Clinical Trial Details
N/A
Broad Policy Alignment
Pending
Age Group
Unspecified
Vulnerable Population
Unspecified
Occupations of Interest
Unspecified
Abstract
In recent years, avian influenza has gradually emerged as a topic of journalistic attention, political urgency, public anxiety, medical concern, and scientific challenge. A broadening range of policy-makers, public health officials, and scientific experts have turned their attention to the troubling prospect of an avian influenza pandemic posing unprecedented problems for the protection of life on a national and international scale. Today, the H5N1 avian influenza virus is considered in many domains of expertise a major challenge to both national security and public health.Given contemporary developments, there is a need and an opportunity for critical engagement with avian influenza as both a political and biological problem. The existing literature on avian influenza is predominantly journalistic and policy-oriented, or it is technical literature in the biological and medical sciences. In this context, my project proposes to develop a conceptually innovative and empirically grounded anthropological inquiry into the scientific, technical, political, and ethical dimensions of avian influenza. Keywords infectious diseases; avian influenza; risk; danger; precaution; preparedness; rationality Hauptdisziplin Ethnologie