Airports, localities and disease: representations of global travel during the H1N1 pandemic

Abstract

During summer 2009, the UK experienced one of the highest incidences of H1N1 infection outside of the Americas and Australia. Building on existing research into biosecurity and the spread of infectious disease via the global airline network, this paper explores the biopolitics of public health in the UK through an in-depth empirical analysis of the representation of H1N1 in UK national and regional newspapers. We uncover new discourses relating to the significance of the airport as a site for control and the ethics of the treatment of the traveller as a potential transmitter of disease. We conclude by highlighting how the global spread of infectious diseases is grounded in particular localities associated with distinctive notions of biosecurity and the traveller.

Fig. 1

Number of UK newspaper reports relating to either ‘H1N1’ or ‘Swine Flu’ during period 25 April–4 September 2009: weekly breakdown.

Fig. 2

Estimated weekly GP consultation rates for influenza-like illness (per 100,000) in England, Wales and Scotland. Note: This data has been included in a separate chart to our newspaper analysis (Fig. 1) due the different week-ending date (Sunday as opposed to Friday in Fig. 1). The National Pandemic Flu Service (NPFS) was launched in England on Thursday, the 23 July 2009. Following its introduction, and the start of the school summer holidays, the GP consultation rate in England dropped sharply. Source: HPA (WWW).

Fig. 3

Number of articles relating to either ‘H1N1’ or ‘Swine Flu’ during the first 14 days of UK newspaper reporting on the virus.

Fig. 4

Number of articles relating to either ‘H1N1’ or ‘Swine Flu’ during the first 14 days of UK newspaper reporting on the virus: breakdown by publication. Note: Only papers totalling 10 or more reports over the surveyed period named in this table. National titles are in dark shading; regional titles in light shading.