World of Warcraft players on the Moonguard server recently experienced a potent, player-induced plague, a phenomenon eerily reminiscent of the game's infamous "Corrupted Blood" incident from 2005. This latest outbreak originated from a spell known as Withering Contagion, found within the Brackenhide Hollow dungeon in the Dragonflight expansion. The spell inflicts nature damage over time and spreads to players within a five-yard radius.
Reports indicate that a player managed to carry Withering Contagion out of the dungeon and into populated areas, including Silvermoon City. The disease rapidly affected lower-level players, quickly killing them, while survivors inadvertently helped to propagate it further. The contagion spread through major Alliance hubs like Stormwind and the Goldshire inn in Elwynn Forest, with players documenting the green slime effect and the ensuing pandemic on social media platforms.
This event has been widely dubbed "Corrupted Blood 2.0" by the player base, a direct reference to the original devastating plague. In 2005, the Corrupted Blood debuff, tied to the Zul'Gurub raid's final boss Hakkar the Soulflayer, escaped its intended instance due to a bug that allowed it to persist on a Hunter's pet. When the pet was summoned in cities, the plague spread uncontrollably, causing widespread player deaths and even infecting non-player characters, who then became passive vectors for the disease.
The 2005 Corrupted Blood incident gained significant attention, even leading to its study by real-world epidemiologists and earning its own Wikipedia page. In contrast, the recent Withering Contagion outbreak was significantly less severe and disruptive. Blizzard Entertainment was able to address the issue with a hotfix deployed on July 3, containing the spread within hours. This swift action prevented a lengthy quarantine period for players, unlike the weeks it took Blizzard to resolve the original Corrupted Blood crisis.