CUP scoops coronavirus book from 'outbreak sleuth' Raul Rabadan

Cambridge University Press has signed a book on the coronavirus by “outbreak sleuth” Professor Raul Rabadan, who helped solve the mystery of the swine flu pandemic in 2009.

Dr Katrina Halliday, executive publisher in life sciences, acquired world rights for Understanding Coronavirus direct from the author. It will be published in paperback and e-book in July with the first chapter made available free online. A proportion of sale proceeds will be donated to global health charities.

According to the synopsis: “Written for a lay audience, Understanding Coronavirus offers a concise and accessible guide to the most common myths and misconceptions about Covid-19. Rabadan explains how the outbreak started and evolved, how it is spreading, why it is different to seasonal influenza and to the SARS outbreak in 2003, and what the prospects are for vaccines and other treatments.”

Rabadan is a professor in the Department of Systems Biology & Biomedical Informatics at Columbia University, New York. In 2009 he and his team designed algorithms to search massive data sets for clues on the origin of swine flu. Their research confirmed swine flu's origin in pigs, not birds or humans, as other scientists had theorised, and led to widespread change in public health policy.

Halliday said: “The recent coronavirus outbreak has triggered a global demand for information about [Covid-19] and viral pandemics. Raul addresses the most common misconceptions about the disease and this important book will help create a far better understanding of it.”