Svarfdælasýsl Publishing House invites you to a publication event in Kvosin, MA, for the publication of Óskar Þór Halldórsson's book about the Akureyri disease. Everyone is welcome.

The winter of 1948-1949 was a serious epidemic of illness in Akureyri. At first it was thought that it was polio, but later it turned out that it was not, and to this day it has not been revealed what kind of illness it was. Since mid-1949, the epidemic has always been called the Akureyri disease - in English Akureyri disease or Iceland disease. It is estimated that about one thousand people in Akureyri fell ill. The disease struck again in 1955-1956 in the Westfjords and in Þistilfjörður.

The book discusses the Akureyri disease, its spread and consequences, often with shocking life stories. Many never fully recovered. The author spoke to a large number of people and relied on extensive sources to shed light on a matter that has long been shrouded in secrecy.

Decades after this epidemic, the attention of scientists is once again focused on it because there are many similarities with Akureyri disease, ME disease and the serious consequences of COVID-19.

At the official presentation of the book in Kvosinn at Menntaskólinn in Akureyri on August 29, speakers in addition to the author will be Ásthildur Sturludóttir, the mayor of Akureyri, doctors Friðbjörn Sigurðsson and Kristín Sigurðardóttir and Kristín Sóley Sigursveinsdóttir in Akureyri.