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Personally, I think it's unlikely that a dirty/moldy disk can ruin a drive.
Ruin other disks, placed in after, yeah. But it takes a bit to damage a head and some cleaning won't fix it.
That said, could a physically damaged disk scrape/damage a head? Yeah, I could see that.
I would physically and visually inspect the suspect floppy.
If it looks fine and is mechanically apparently working (and I REALLY wanted data off of it), I'd try cleaning the disk (Gently) with warm (NOT HOT) soapy water. Drying it (NOT USING HEAT).
(Ideally, you might want to remove the disk from the floppy case to clean it. It's tricky to not damage the paper in the floppy case and/or get it dry. But you have to "pop" open the case for that, and then glue it sealed when done. I have done that before with success.)
When you are sure it is clean and dry and the disk mechanically still looks fine, I'd try it in another drive.
But that is just me and I am sure lots of people will tell you how wrong I am. ;-)
desiv
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