Fighting an Invisible Enemy narrates the founding and growth of the internationally renowned National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) in South Africa, from its foundations in the early twentieth century as the South African Institute for Medical Research to, later, the National Institute for Virology. It started humbly, as did many of its sister public health institutions around the world, and faced daunting obstacles: financial restrictions, bureaucratic straitjacketing, international isolation during the apartheid era and, in later years, the calumny of governmental AIDS denial. Following the triumph of the eradication of the once-dreaded smallpox, the NICD plays a crucial role in the ongoing global effort to eradicate polio. While South Africa carries the misfortune of the largest HIV/AIDS pandemic in the world, the institute's HIV research unit has become a world leader. More remote from public notice are the laboratories and epidemiologists supporting the constant surveillance of communicable diseases and the alerts they provide for impending outbreaks or pandemics, such as Ebola or the Covid-19 pandemic. The NICD is a flagship organisation in public health in South Africa and this book, by its first executive director and internationally recognised virologist Dr Barry Schoub, paints a vivid portrait of its accomplishments. Enhanced by a collection of images of its projects and facilities, the book will be of interest to public health specialists and activists, as well as a more general audience.|Fighting an Invisible Enemy narrates the development of the internationally renowned National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) in South Africa from its foundations in the early twentieth century as the South African Institute for Medical Research and, later, the National Institute for Virology. It started humbly and faced daunting obstacles: financial restrictions, international isolation during the apartheid era and political interference both during and after apartheid. The institute plays a crucial role in the ongoing global effort to eradicate polio, and its HIV research unit has become a world leader. Its multidisciplinary laboratories and epidemiologists support the constant surveillance of communicable diseases and provide alerts for any signal of an impending outbreak or pandemic. The NICD is a flagship public health organisation in South Africa, and this book, enhanced by images of its projects and facilities, paints a vivid portrait of its accomplishments. It will be of interest to public health specialists and activists, as well as a more general audience.