The Big One: How We Must Prepare for Future Deadly Pandemics

As bad as Covid-19 was, the next pandemic could be worse--but we have the tools to prepare, as revealed in this urgent, gripping warning by the New York Times bestselling authors of Deadliest Enemy.

The Covid-19 pandemic was the most devastating natural event of the last century, killing more than 7 million people around the globe, straining the fabric of societies internationally, and shaking the foundations of the global economy. And yet, as horrifying as the experience was, Covid-19 was not actually "the Big One" -- the dreaded potential pandemic that haunts the nightmares of epidemiologists and public health officials everywhere, and which will alter life across the world on every meaningful level unless we are ready to deal with it. Indeed, even as we learn to live with Covid-19 and continue to recover from its worst effects, the next pandemic is already lurking around the corner--and it may very well be worse.

In The Big One, founding director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy Michael T. Osterholm and Mark Olshaker examine past pandemics, highlighting the ways societies both succeeded and failed to address them; trace the Covid-19 pandemic and evaluate how it was handled; and look to the future, projecting what the next pandemics might look like and what must be done to mitigate them. Drawing on years of high-level research as well as cutting-edge analysis and an innovative hypothetical scenario threaded throughout each chapter, The Big One is a gripping, comprehensive, and urgent wake-up call. Because Covid-19 was just a taste of what's to come. If we're going to survive the next big pandemic, we need to be prepared.


Author: Michael T. Osterholm,Mark Olshaker
Publisher: Little, Brown Spark
Published: 09/02/2025
Pages: 384
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.41lbs
Size: 9.37h x 5.98w x 1.34d
ISBN: 9780316258340


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 05/01/2025 pg. 10
Publishers Weekly 06/23/2025
Kirkus Reviews 07/01/2025
Booklist 08/01/2025

About the Author
Dr. Michael Osterholm is Regents Professor, McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair in Public Health, and the founding director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota. An internationally renowned epidemiologist, he has been at the forefront of public health preparedness, has led many outbreak investigations of international importance, and advises world leaders on the ever-growing list of microbial threats. He is the author of the New York Times bestseller Living Terrors. His podcast series, "Osterholm Update: COVID-19," has been downloaded by more than 8 million listeners.

Mark Olshaker is a journalist, Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker, and a New York Times bestselling author of five novels and twelve books of nonfiction. His books with FBI profiling pioneer John Douglas, including Mindhunter, the basis for the hit Netflix series, have sold millions of copies and offer a unique and intriguing perspective into behavioral science and criminal investigative analysis. He is also the coauthor with Dr. C.J. Peters of Virus Hunter.

Together, Dr. Michael Osterholm and Mark Olshaker are the authors of the New York Times bestseller Deadliest Enemy.