Pixelated Plagues: Virtual Outbreaks and Real Human Behavior

In 2005, a highly contagious, lethal disease swept through the virtual world of Azeroth, slaughtering millions of player characters in a matter of hours. What began as a simple programming glitch accidentally became one of the most important sociological events in modern epidemiology. Public health officials have always struggled to model how real humans react during a pandemic, as mathematical ...