# The untapped potential of virtual game worlds to shed light on real world epidemics

*Source* · `src-lofgren-2007-corrupted-blood` · status: **n/a**

| field | value |
|---|---|
| kind | Peer-reviewed paper |
| authors | Eric T. Lofgren, Nina H. Fefferman |
| venue | The Lancet Infectious Diseases 7(9):625-629 |
| date | 2007-09 |
| url | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17714675/ |
| doi | 10.1016/S1473-3099(07)70212-8 |
| accessed | 2026-10-24 |

## Notes

Read via secondary summaries (Medical News Today, Wikipedia). Uses the World of Warcraft Corrupted Blood outbreak to argue virtual worlds capture individual behavior in epidemics; players entered quarantine zones and assumed contact would not infect them; quarantine failed and the developer reset servers.

## Backlinks (computed)

**cited by:** [Contagion](../mechanic/contagion.md)

## Citation

Eric T. Lofgren, Nina H. Fefferman (2007-09). *The untapped potential of virtual game worlds to shed light on real world epidemics*. The Lancet Infectious Diseases 7(9):625-629 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17714675/

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Provenance: created in run `2026-10-24-taxonomy-m5`.