A news story reviewing the analysis by Eric Lofgren (Tufts) and Nina Fefferman (Rutgers) was published in 2007 and is being revisited by some news outlets during the 2009 Influenza A H1N1 outbreak. These investigators suggested that the World of Warcraft scenario introduced a capability to model less predictable aspects of human economic and social behavior.  The virtual pandemic was caused by a developer error which caused a disease called "corrupted blood" to attack virtual characters in the game. The demonstrated tendency of many players to ignore the risks, for instance, may be similar to the behavior of individuals when faced with a pandemic threat that is not taken serious. 

Reference: Eric T Lofgren and Nina H Fefferman. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Volume 7, Issue 9, September 2007, Pages 625-629.
DOI:10.1016/S1473-3099(07)70212-8.