Scott Sigler's novel Infested, to be published in the US and Canada next spring by Random House's Crown imprint, has been acquired for development by Random House Films and Rogue Pictures.

The thriller is the first in a series of at least two books. Crown has a world rights multi-book deal with Sigler and the filmmaking partnership now gets rights to both Infested and the as-yet-untitled second book.

Infested follows a CIA black-ops specialist and a Center for Disease Control scientist as they team up in the struggle to contain a parasite that is rapidly spreading across America.

The big screen adaptation is the latest project to evolve from the filmmaking partnership between Random House Films and Rogue sibling company Focus Features.

The first film under the partnership is drama Reservation Road , which Focus will release this autumn.