“Avoid like the plague”in other languages

Same idea, different pictures

English and French measure distance by the most feared disease in their history: fuir comme la peste, to flee like the plague. The comparison is old; Saint Jerome already used it in the 4th century.

Portuguese uses a religious picture instead: fugir como o diabo foge da cruz, to flee the way the devil flees from the cross. It stresses speed and panic more than distance.