illness as a metaphor?

Question

Cancer has been spectacularly, and similarly, encumbered by the trappings of metaphor: i.e. society's cancer.

Please answer one (or both) of these questions:
Can you give another example of a disease and its methaphor(s) (in your cultural context or other)?
What does "illness" mean to you? what metaphors would you attribute to the word?

Answer 1

Computer viruses - non-"life forms", spreading contagiously.