# Which other pandemics have been spoken of as 'the unseen enemy', 'at war with" or 'world war' ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 2, 2020, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-other-pandemics-have-been-spoken-of-as-the-unseen-enemy-at-war-with-or-world-war/850911 "2020-04-02T20:30:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-other-pandemics-have-been-spoken-of-as-the-unseen-enemy-at-war-with-or-world-war/850911/1 "2020-04-02T20:30:12Z")
Hi In all my reading on pandemics I have yet to see any reference to “the unseen enemy” and “at war with” it or even as being a ‘world war’. Which other pandemics in history have been spoken of as ‘the unseen enemy’, and as being 'at war with" it ? If we are not to think of it as hyperbole, does it meet the criteria of being a ‘world war’? I look forward to your feedback. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-other-pandemics-have-been-spoken-of-as-the-unseen-enemy-at-war-with-or-world-war/850911/2 "2020-04-02T21:07:26Z")
I’ve seen references, especially during wartime, to disease as “the common enemy of all mankind”. Meaning that even during a war, combatants could be expected to cooperate on disease-fighting measures. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-other-pandemics-have-been-spoken-of-as-the-unseen-enemy-at-war-with-or-world-war/850911/3 "2020-04-02T21:25:46Z")
Here’s a 1988 public health report hosted by the National Institutes of Health entitled, “The American Medical Association and the war on AIDS”. > **[The American Medical Association and the war on AIDS.](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1478067/)** > > Since the identification of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in 1981 as a distinct disease entity, the number of AIDS cases has steadily increased in the United States and throughout the world. Although the primary etiologic agent of AIDS,... Here is a 1976(?!) article in Time Magazine talking about the war against Swine Flu. > **[Medicine: War Against Swine Flu](https://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,913992,00.html)** > > When several hundred soldiers were stricken with influenza at Fort Dix, > N.J., in February, doctors at first were not greatly alarmed. The > recruits appeared to be suffering only from the A/Victoria... It is pretty common to have a “war with” just about any major chronic issue affecting society, from illnesses to hunger to drugs to homelessness. Of course it’s a hyperbole though, at least if you restrict a war to military action. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-other-pandemics-have-been-spoken-of-as-the-unseen-enemy-at-war-with-or-world-war/850911/4 "2020-04-02T21:30:02Z")
> [@davidmich](#): > > If we are not to think of it as hyperbole, does it meet the criteria of being a ‘world war’? I myself started referring to it as World War 3 a few weeks ago. Almost every nation on the planet has been affected. I admit that I have not done the research to see if any nations are NOT actively involved in anti-corona medical research. But if there are any, my guess is that they are fewer and smaller than the several who remained neutral in World War Two. In other words, it seems to me that more of the world is participating in this war than in the previously named World War. The irony is that this war involves no bombs, no guns, and no swords. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-other-pandemics-have-been-spoken-of-as-the-unseen-enemy-at-war-with-or-world-war/850911/5 "2020-04-02T21:33:56Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > It is pretty common to have a “war with” just about any major chronic issue affecting society, from illnesses to hunger to drugs to homelessness. Of course it’s a hyperbole though, at least if you restrict a war to military action. We can call those hyperbole on other grounds as well: Many claim that the governments efforts in these other “wars” are only half-hearted. And how much of the populace is directly affected by those wars? By those measures, this war is bigger than most. ---
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-other-pandemics-have-been-spoken-of-as-the-unseen-enemy-at-war-with-or-world-war/850911/6 "2020-04-03T20:50:05Z")
> [@Keeve](#): > > We can call those hyperbole on other grounds as well: Many claim that the governments efforts in these other “wars” are only half-hearted. And how much of the populace is directly affected by those wars? By those measures, this war is bigger than most. Thank you all. Very helpful. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-other-pandemics-have-been-spoken-of-as-the-unseen-enemy-at-war-with-or-world-war/850911/7 "2020-04-03T23:34:42Z")
I believe the last pandemic on “world war” scale coincided with actual World War I. > [@Keeve](#): > > The irony is that this war involves no bombs, no guns, and no swords. Although our current enemy did turn out to be our greatest ally in the War of the Worlds. FWIW, this war is very close to a global casualty rate of one Iwo Jima per day. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2020, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-other-pandemics-have-been-spoken-of-as-the-unseen-enemy-at-war-with-or-world-war/850911/8 "2020-04-04T00:51:58Z")
World War 2 had the [war against venereal disease.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_U.S._Military_Sex_Education#/media/File:%22Fight_Syphilis_and_Gonorrhea%22_-_NARA_-_514250.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2020, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-other-pandemics-have-been-spoken-of-as-the-unseen-enemy-at-war-with-or-world-war/850911/9 "2020-04-04T01:10:25Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > FWIW, this war is very close to a global casualty rate of one Iwo Jima per day. But Iwo Jima lasted 5 weeks, not 1 day. And are you talking about only Allied (American) casualties, or also including Japanese? But still a terrifying vision of this “hoax” of a pandemic! ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2020, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-other-pandemics-have-been-spoken-of-as-the-unseen-enemy-at-war-with-or-world-war/850911/10 "2020-04-04T02:44:26Z")
This being GQ, I would take a guess and say probably none as we have not had a pandemic of this magnitude since 1918. And also AFAIK, this euphemism of having a “war” against things that are bad but not war in the traditional sense started in the 1960s on with “war on poverty” followed by “war on drugs” and “war on crime” etc. ---
**Author:** ![dba\_Fred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c37758/32.png) [@dba\_Fred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dba_Fred)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2020, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-other-pandemics-have-been-spoken-of-as-the-unseen-enemy-at-war-with-or-world-war/850911/11 "2020-04-04T07:35:17Z")
Those of us with musical taste were at war with Disco. I survived the Disco Fever pandemic; I maintained social distance from those afflicted and kept my music collection quarantined from its insidious influence. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2020, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-other-pandemics-have-been-spoken-of-as-the-unseen-enemy-at-war-with-or-world-war/850911/12 "2020-04-04T16:56:13Z")
> [@dba\_Fred](#): > > Those of us with musical taste were at war with Disco. > > I survived the Disco Fever pandemic; I maintained social distance from those afflicted and kept my music collection quarantined from its insidious influence. Unlike many of the figurative wars mentioned in this thread, the war on disco involved at least one prominent use of actual explosives. [Disco Demolition Night.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco_Demolition_Night):eek: ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2020, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-other-pandemics-have-been-spoken-of-as-the-unseen-enemy-at-war-with-or-world-war/850911/13 "2020-04-04T19:01:24Z")
> [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](#): > > But Iwo Jima lasted 5 weeks, not 1 day. > And are you talking about only Allied (American) casualties, or also including Japanese? > > But still a terrifying vision of this “hoax” of a pandemic! I meant 6000 total US dead on Iwo Jima. Last count, I think around 4,700 died globally in the past day from the Coronavirus. Granted it’s not as dramatic when you spread them out all over the world instead of all on a single small island. But it kind of paints an ugly picture.