| This thesis investigates the avian influenza pandemic preparedness project in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR). I explore how the state, through its policies, practices, and actors, engages with the uncertainty posed by a future avian influenza pandemic by forming preparedness protocols that seek to mitigate portended misfortunes in pragmatic ways. I contextualize current preparedness practices into a history of infectious disease management in Hong Kong. Media reports and interviews elucidate nuances between state discourse on avian influenza and state healthcare actors' personal perceptions and practices. I argue that an engagement with the uncertain is fundamental to the very existence of avian influenza as a powerfully real social entity. While fissures and points of contradiction are evident, the logic underpinning pandemic preparedness remains intact, allowing for the continued existence of avian influenza despite its prolonged low incidence of human infection and continued uncertainty. |
