The stupidity of the comparison means that I have no idea what is meant by "threatening." In terms of individual lives, regular homicide is far more threatening than terrorism, as is choking on your next meal. Even ignoring the entwining of terrorism with politics, that already makes this a meaningless comparison.

And it's not necessary, because surely we've got plenty of analogous pandemics in the field of medicine which can orientate ourselves to any looming crisis. The AIDs virus in the West is still fresh in our memory, and a far more appropriate comparison.