If ever you saw virus infection movies like Outbreak or have read (or saw in NatGeo or Discovery) about the potential disaster of what a full-blown SARS or bird flu (NHN1) infection can likely do to humanity, you’d know how big the problem is.

To further study the potential of dangerous diseases and perhaps how to contain it, scientists are turning to MMORPGs to find answers.

They have used World of Warcraft to simulate a viral epidemic.

Called the “Corrupted Blood” disease, it is fast spreading and has already killed off thousands of avatars in that game.

The infection raged, wreaking social chaos, despite quarantine measures.

The experience provided essential clues on how people behave in such crises, Lancet Infectious Diseases reports.

Researcher Professor Nina Fefferman, from Tufts University School of Medicine, said: “Human behaviour has a big impact on disease spread. And virtual worlds offer an excellent platform for studying human behaviour.

“The players seemed to really feel they were at risk and took the threat of infection seriously, even though it was only a game.”

She acknowledged that a virtual setting might encourage riskier behaviour, but said this could be estimated and allowed for when drawing conclusions.

Computer models allow for experimentation on virtual populations without such limitations, but still rely on mathematical rules to approximate human behaviour.

A virtual world may be a way to bridge this gap, said Professor Fefferman.

Via BBC.co.uk news

Photo Source: Gaming Today