List of fictional diseases

Diseases, disorders, infections, and pathogens have appeared in fiction as part of a major plot or thematic importance.^[1]

"Zombification" is a fictional disease which turns humans into mindless cannibals known as "zombies"

In multiple media

Name	Source	Description	Ref.
Cooties	Children's games	A term used by children in the United States, with varied meaning. Cooties generally refers to an invisible germ, bug, or microscopic monster, transferred by skin to skin contact, usually with a member of the opposite sex.	[2]
Ligma	Internet memes and jokes	An ambiguous fictional disease described as fatal. The term is used as a set up to a joke due to its phonetic similarity to the words "lick my", with the punchline being "ligma balls", "ligma dick", or other variations.	[3]
Lycanthropy	Various	The disease transforms humans into vicious human-wolf hybrids known as "werewolves." In some stories, their bites and scratches can turn other humans into werewolves.	[4]
Vampirism	Various	Those infected, known as "vampires," are fanged monsters which feast upon human blood, while also infecting and transforming more humans into vampires.	[5]
Zombification	Various	Humans infected with the disease transform into mindless rotting cannibals known as "zombies," who bite and further infect others.	[6]

In particular media

Name	Source	Description	Ref.
The Black Breath	J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth	An affliction contracted by "excessive proximity" to a Nazgûl, seems to be a "spiritual malady" combined with "fear, confusion, reduced levels of consciousness, hypothermia, weakness and death."	[7][8]
Corrupted blood	World of Warcraft	Initially contracted from fighting Hakkar, the god of blood, in the dungeon of Zul'Gurub. Highly infectious, with an incubation period of two seconds and can infect any person in the immediate area.	[9]
Las plagas	Resident Evil series	A parasitic organism which can infect a variety of hosts, including humans. It has the ability to control its host's behavior, inducing a hive-like mentality among the infected and extreme hostility towards uninfected individuals. The infected retain most of the characteristics of humans such as fine motor skills as seen through their use of simple weapons such as scythes and axes, and more complicated weapons such as chainsaws and chainguns. They are seen to obey "queen" parasites, much like ants.	[10]
Legacy Virus	Marvel Comics	A disease that targets only mutants, causing genetic and biological degradation and eventual death; shortly before death, the virus' effects cause a violent, uncontrolled flare-up of the victim's superhuman abilities.	[11]
PhageThe phage	Star Trek: Voyager	A necrotizing plague that affects members of the Vidiian species. Organ transplants are required for survival.	[12]
The Red Death	"The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe	A disease resembling an epidemic plague. Represents death's inevitability, even to the rich who try to avoid it.	[13]
Techno-organic virus	Marvel Comics	A virus that transforms living tissue into techno-organic material, which resembles both machinery and living tissue.	[14]