科幻小说先驱H.G. Wells在1898年出版了被视为科幻小说经典的

《The War of the Worlds》，故事是科技远比地球人进步的火星人入侵地球，人类在绝望的时候突然发现火星人全死了。那部小说的最后一段读起来非常有意思，特别是在疫情当中。这是小说的叙述者在结尾里说的：  

“[the Martians were] dead!—slain by the putrefactive and disease bacteria against which their systems were unprepared…slain, after all man’s devices had failed, by the humblest things that God, in his wisdom, has put upon this earth…These germs of disease have taken toll of humanity since the beginning of things—taken toll of our prehuman ancestors since life began here. But by virtue of this natural selection of our kind we have developed resisting power; to no germs do we succumb without a struggle…By the toll of a billion deaths man has bought his birthright of the earth, and it is his against all comers…For neither do men live nor die in vain.” — H.G. Wells, The War of the Worlds