Drawn from my Master’s thesis entitled “Africa’s Deadly Enemy:” A Critical Discourse Analysis of Canadian Newspaper Coverage of the HIV/AIDS Pandemic in Africa, this paper examines how mainstream Canadian press coverage of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, published between 2000 and 2003, depicts the African continent as a source of disease, infestation and ultimately a great threat to the West. Viewing a small selection of articles through the lens of post-colonial theory as well as writings on racism, Africanism and the cultural and social aspects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, I argue that these specific texts are reflective of a Western ideological paradigm that long predates the appearance of the HIV virus. Through the publication of unproven theories, such as the African origin theory of HIV, as well as more subtly, in their use of language, examples and analogies, the articles under scrutiny continue to paint an image of the African continent as a land where disease not only abounds, but can barely be dealt with or contained. These ideologies draw their roots in an all too familiar discourse produced through the colonial enterprise, one that sought to other and subjugate African nations and peoples in order to legitimize the domination of their continent. While the historical context may have changed, I argue that these biased representations continue to service the West, by legitimizing ethically problematic medical and scientific practices conducted in Africa, and by allowing the West to quell certain of the anxieties brought on by the threat of disease within a globalized world, where the ‘Other’ can no longer be as easily distanced or contained.