Virtual diseases help scientists understand real-life epidemics

Those of you who are avid gamers are undoubtedly familiar with the increasingly popular World of Warcraft -- an online game with millions of users around the globe. Recently a "corrupted blood" disease spread through the virtual community as an uncontrolled plague, killing off thousands of players and creating chaos -- all in spite of attempts to control the outbreak with quarantine measures.

While you might think this is of little interest to those outside the game, scientists say it's an excellent model for studying how humans would react in a real-life infection.

Players responded to the outbreak in a number of different ways -- some working to save the infected, some fleeing cities to try and outrun the disease, and still others infecting other players on purpose, just to be cruel.

Up until now, doctors were left either studying previous outbreaks, or relying on mathematical models to study the potential effects of a real-world epidemic. This new research could provide them with insight into how a potentially harmful new virus -- like bird flu, for example -- would spread, taking into account the variable of human behavior.

This seems like it could prove to be a very useful tool in helping doctors and scientists feel more prepared in the event of a modern-day plague.