Doomsday was still in the stages of his evolution, to help it along he developed a form of death aura which sapped the life out of anything and everything around him within a couple hundred yards. Growing more and more powerful the more he killed and the more lifeforce he consumed, an extension of this power was a toxic spore cloud he emitted from his own body which expedited the leeching process. Doomsday's deadly miasma had the effect of making everything around him wither and die at an accelerated rate; such as sand glossing over into black onyx, sentient life burst' into flames several meters away, even buildings spontaneously dissolving at a molecular level upon exposure to his poisonous fugue. Even a solar powered Kryptonian couldn't stand to be in his presence for more than a few minutes at a time. The virulent also has the effect of turning anyone and everyone affected by it into an iteration of Doomsday himself. Moreover, those who kill him become a receptacle for his essential self, taking on his more vicious and bloodthirsty characteristics as well as his powers.