European scientists revealed in November 2022 that they had revived a zombie virus that had been dormant for about 50,000 years. The researchers issued a warning, noting that their research suggests that climate change may pose a risk to the public’s health.
According to Bloomberg, the researchers examined 13 novel diseases they dubbed “zombie viruses” and “discovered that they remained contagious despite spending several millennia locked in the frozen permafrost.” But since the viruses they chose to thaw for study don’t endanger humans, the real risk presented by reviving those specific specimens is “absolutely minimal,” the paper claims.
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The researchers, who are from France, Germany, and Russia, nevertheless, want to highlight a little-discussed danger faced by a warming planet – the release of germs that have been frozen for generations.
In the Northern Hemisphere, one-fourth of the land is permanently frozen, or “permafrost.” The researchers said in the report that was submitted to BioRxiv, a preprint site for biology research publications that have not yet been peer reviewed, that as climate change heats the world, the freeze thaws, unleashing diverse organic substances that had been in ice for millennia.
The researchers noted: “As a result, it is likely that when ancient permafrost thaws, unknown viruses will be released (our limit is entirely set by the validity range of radiocarbon dating, which is much older than 50,000 years). It is still impossible to predict how long these viruses might remain contagious after being exposed to environmental factors like UV light, oxygen, and heat, or how likely it will be that they will come into contact with and infect a suitable host during that time.”
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It further read, ” However, the risk will inevitably rise as a result of global warming as permafrost thawing continues to speed up and more people move to the Arctic as a result of industrial endeavors.” The article cited anthrax outbreaks that had a catastrophic impact on reindeer numbers. Near 2016, an anthrax outbreak connected to thawing permafrost sickened and killed a 12-year-old kid in the Arctic Circle and sickened scores of others. Many thousands of reindeer were also killed.
