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Canbury Press has signed Kelland's debut on pandemic control
Canbury Press has signed Disease X: The 100 Days Mission to End Pandemics by former Reuters journalist Kate Kelland, with a foreword from former prime minister Tony Blair.
Martin Hickman, managing director, acquired world rights from Clare Grist Taylor at the Accidental Agency. The book will be published on 2nd February 2023.
Disease X lays out the 25 families of viruses, including coronavirus, which pose a threat to humanity. A "mutant offspring" of any of these viruses could be the next "Disease X" — the codename given by the World Health Organisation to an as-yet-unknown future pathogen with pandemic potential.
Kelland is now chief scientific writer at the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), a global non-profit organisation working to prepare against future pandemics. In her debut book she "distils lessons learned by epidemic experts at CEPI". In Disease X, Kelland wrote: "While we’d love to believe that the emergence of Covid-19 was a once in a lifetime event, that is very far from the truth. It is only a matter of time before we come face to face with the next Disease X – a new, transmissible and potentially lethal virus."
Blair’s foreword "urges prime ministers and presidents to guard against complacency" and to "pay attention to the message contained in the book".
Kelland said: “Despite its scary title, Disease X is ultimately a story of hope. It takes a unique journalistic and insider view of where we have gone wrong in tackling deadly epidemics and pandemics of the past and present, and shows how the world can now get 100-Days-Mission-ready to stop pandemics threatening our future.”
Hickman added: “The lesson of Covid is that we shouldn’t be complacent about new viruses and the time to be preparing for the next one is now. This is the story of how public health experts are planning to tackle it quickly, providing they receive backing from world leaders.”
