ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors consider the story line for the coming plague, as expressed through fears about avian influenza, and the widespread communication of this story line through official international bodies such as the World Health Organization and through other media. International worries about avian influenza and the development of international health and agricultural standards have been translated into national policy and practice. Scholarly and media accounts of the coming plague of avian influenza almost invariably make reference to the 1918 influenza pandemic, which is estimated to have killed from 50 million to 100 million people worldwide. Avian influenza has become part of a growing list of emerging, reemerging, and antimicrobial-resistant diseases that nourishes a twenty first-century obsession with killer germs, bioterrorism, biosecurity, and coming plagues. The story of the coming pandemic of avian influenza follows Priscilla Wald's formulaic plot that begins with the identification of an emerging infection and discusses the global networks throughout which it travels.
