LOAD DATA INFILE on a MyISAM table blocks user read-queries, can we get around this?
If your table is a MyISAM engine you can try to specify CONCURRENT in your statement.

Load data ref.

Concurrent insert ref.


  With LOAD DATA INFILE, if you specify CONCURRENT with a MyISAM table
  that satisfies the condition for concurrent inserts (that is, it
  contains no free blocks in the middle), other sessions can retrieve
  data from the table while LOAD DATA is executing. Use of the
  CONCURRENT option affects the performance of LOAD DATA a bit, even if
  no other session is using the table at the same time.


UPDATE FOR FREE BLOCK EXPLAIN

When you delete a row a free block can occur, if you have free blocks in the "middle" of your insert, for example if you replace deleted rows(index and/or primary key) with your load data, concurrent insert do not work, when free blocks are filled in future insert become concurrent again.