'Zombie virus' frozen in Siberia may be potential global threat
Scientists warn that the climate crisis will worsen as permafrost melts because trapped greenhouse gases such as methane will continue to release.
-
Potential 'zombie virus' uncovered (New York Post)
Just as the world just finished battling the threat of the Coronavirus pandemic, followed by the Monkeypox virus, another virus may be another impending threat the world would have to face yet again.
In the Siberian region of Russia, researchers found almost two dozen viruses, including one found frozen under the ice in a lake more than 48,500 years ago, labeling it a "zombie virus".
The researchers from Russia, France, and Germany analyzed the samples collected from permafrost, thawing as a result of the climate crisis, and identified 13 new pathogens which remained infectious despite all this time frozen in ice.
This, however, echoes a previous warning by scientists stating that the climate crisis will worsen as permafrost continues to melt because previously trapped greenhouse gases, such as methane, will continue to release.
Potentially reviving a virus infectious to animals or humans poses a grave risk, as the team warned that their efforts could deduce the extent to which the risk is dangerously real.
Read next: Arctic ocean's acidity increasing 4 times faster: Report
In an article published in the preprint repository bioRxiv, not peer-reviewed, however, the team stated, "It is thus likely that ancient permafrost will release these unknown viruses upon thawing," adding, "How long these viruses could remain infectious once exposed to outdoor conditions, and how likely they will be to encounter and infect a suitable host in the interval, is yet impossible to estimate."
"But the risk is bound to increase in the context of global warming when permafrost thawing will keep accelerating, and more people will be populating the Arctic in the wake of industrial ventures," they continued.
The threat, unfortunately, will not only persist but will exacerbate as the ice melts in various parts of the world since that will release frozen viruses, diseases, and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere that are unknown to the human body - simply because they would have existed more than 50,000 years ago.
