An alchemical virus is the term given by the metallurgist community for a disease that has transmutative properties.

One such version sees the metallic skin of the victim transmuted into the rare metal admium, the softness of which results in the body breaking down and crumbling away. As the subject begins to be slowly eaten alive as a result of the virus, it has been referred to as a "death plague".

Fiction

2005 IDW continuity

Metroplex had seemingly contracted this contagious death plague that was breaking down his metal during the Dark Cybertron crisis. The Dead Are Not Enough It later turned out to be have been the result of exposure to the Death ore from Gorlam Prime. The Becoming