One researcher is using her online gaming experience to structure predictive modeling for the novel coronavirus.

Epidemiologist and researcher Dr. Nina Fefferman believes scientists can benefit by examining an old plague in the online multiplayer game World of Warcraft that infected the characters of many players in 2005. The plague, referred to as “Corrupted Blood,” originated from a boss character in the game called Hakkar the Soulflayer, who cast a “debuff” on players to temporarily steal their health. If one player came into close contact with another character, the “infection” would spread.