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Plague strikes under 50s

As in WoW characters.

Fans of MMORPG PC adventure World of Warcraft have found themselves covered in boils, sores and pustulent buboes following the outbreak of a deadly plague.

Well, not literally the fans themselves, but their characters (though some people take it so seriously what's the difference, really). Thing is, Blizzard recently introduced the Zul'Gurub instance to the game - which meant that god of blood Hakkar the Soulflayer would infect anyone who had the nuts to take him on with the fatal disease.

And characters unfortunate enough to fall victim to Hakkar's attack have been returning to towns and villages, coughing up all kinds of bacteria and oozing all manner of pus along the way and generally infecting everyone they meet. Anyone below level 50 is pretty much killed outright the moment they contract the disease, apparently.

GMs have begun to introduce quarantine programmes in a bid to stop the plague from spreading, but there's no way to stop a quarantined character from leaving the specified area because they just want to pop to the chemist's for some Strepsils or whatever.

Who knows how long it'll be before a cure turns up - according to one forum moderator, "It appears that the hotfix remedy concocted to combat the recent Azethorian outbreak has not yielded the desired results.

"At this time, our medical staff is continuing to develop an effective cure. We look forward to ensuring the health and vitality of the citizens of Azeroth in the near future."

Best stay indoors and wrap up warm then, eh.