The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) is a flagship South African public health organisation, and this book, by its first executive director and virologist Dr Barry Schoub, paints a portrait of its development, despite many challenges, towards becoming an internationally renowned partner in the struggle for global health.

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.