On the Origin of the Worst Pandemic in 100 Years

Elaine Dewar (1948–2025)—author, journalist, television story editor—has been honoured by nine National Magazine awards, including the prestigious President’s Medal, and the White Award. Her first book, Cloak of Green, delved into the dark side of environmental politics and became an underground classic. Bones: Discovering the First Americans, an investigation of the science and politics regarding the peopling of the Americas, was a national bestseller and earned a special commendation from the Canadian Archaeological Association. The Second Tree: of Clones, Chimeras, and Quests for Immortality won Canada’s premier literary nonfiction prize from the Writers’ Trust. The Handover was a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for nonfiction. On The Origin of the Deadliest Pandemic in 100 Years broke front page news in the Globe and Mail with its investigation into the infiltration of Canada's only level four microbiology institution by leading Chinese military researchers who subsequently fled the country. Called “Canada’s Rachel Carson,” Dewar aspired to be a happy warrior for the public good.

• 1. The Past Is Prelude2. SARS: The Prequel3. Political Science 1.04. On Trust5. Political Science 2.06. The Canadian Connection7. On Nailing Jelly to the Wall8. Who Are Xiangguo Qiu and Keding Cheng?9. All About Shi Zhengli10. So Many Suspicions, So Little Evidence11. The Latham/Wilson Thesis12. Following the Money13. But Then Again...14. Brass Nerve!15. DRASTIC Measures16. It’s Not Over Until the Fat Lady SingsSelected BibliographyNotesAcknowledgements

Praise for On the Origin of the Deadliest Pandemic in 100 Years: An Investigation“[Dewar] has spent the pandemic following the politics, the scientific research, the news coverage—and the money … Her book casts a shadow over the wet market theory and points a finger at the Chinese government—and at some scientists and leading science journals for their single-minded support and promotion of this theory … The book reads almost like a detective novel.”—Globe and Mail “Dewar gets us to an acceptable truth about the origin and the travels of this coronavirus, and the significant tardiness and incompetence of governments and science to protect the public.”—Winnipeg Free Press“I would highly recommend [On the Origin of the Deadliest Pandemic in 100 Years] to anyone interested in knowing more about the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic. Her very thorough research, based on publicly available documents, shows how China badly managed the initial phase of the pandemic and manipulated the WHO which resulted in an underestimation of the problem and delays in putting in place measures to limit the damages of the pandemic in other countries.”—Guy Saint-Jacques, former Canadian Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China“I devoured this book.”—Marsha Lederman, on Twitter“Before I read this book, I thought the Wuhan lab leak hypothesis was just a wild conspiracy. Elaine Dewar makes a very strong case that it may well be true. She even goes farther, showing scientists are often sloppy with hazardous biological materials, that they engage in naive research with some dubious government actors, and, when caught, dodge responsibility by smearing their critics as enemies of science.”—Mark Bourrie, RBC Taylor Prize- winning author of Bush Runner: The Adventures of Pierre-Esprit Radisson“In this age when reliable news is hidden in a cacophony of mis-information, dis-information, social media idiocy and the caterwauling of celebrity influencers, long-form journalism is coming back into its own. Elaine Dewar uses her formidable reporting skills to produce the story of the moment. The pandemic forced her to follow I.F. Stone’s dictum to work exclusively from published, public sources, and her story is the stronger for it. This is, of course, a detective story, a whodunnit, and Dewar is unstinting in exposing the cover-ups, the political expediency, the deceits, and the sloppy work and judgements of usually diligent scientists along the route to her conclusions.”—Jonathan Manthorpe, author of Restoring Democracy in an Age of Populists and PestilencePraise for Elaine Dewar"Dewar is justly well known for her relentless research and we are fortunate to have her.”—Philip Marchand, National Post"Dewar is a keen observer of place and personality."—Publishers Weekly