'Zombie viruses' in the Arctic could trigger the next pandemic, experts warn

Experts have warned that ancient "zombie viruses" could be released as the artsy ice melts, causing the next pandemic.

 'Zombie viruses' in the Arctic could trigger the next pandemic, experts warn (image by- pixabay)

We have never fully recovered from the last pandemic, but experts now say humanity may face the threat of the next pandemic from an unexpected place – melting permafrost in the Arctic region could release ancient viruses that could potentially Can affect humans.

According to The Observer, these "zombie viruses", also known as Methuselah viruses according to the Bible, have already been isolated by researchers, raising concerns about a new global emergency. To combat the possibility of diseases haunting us from the distant past, scientists are proposing an Arctic surveillance network that could detect early cases of disease caused by ancient microbes.

The network can also provide quarantine support and specialist medical treatment for infected people in an effort to prevent infected people from leaving the area.

“At the moment, analysis of pandemic threats focuses on diseases that could emerge in southern regions and then spread to the north. In contrast, very little attention has been paid to an outbreak that could emerge in the far north and then move south – and I believe this is a mistake. There are viruses out there that have the potential to infect humans and trigger a new disease outbreak,” Jean-Michel Claverie, a geneticist at Aix-Marseille University, told The Observer.

Permafrost refers to soil or sediment beneath water that remains at temperatures below zero for long periods of time. Some of the oldest permafrost has been frozen for about 700,000 years. It covers about a fifth of the world's northern hemisphere and is cold, dark and low in oxygen.

This makes permafrost excellent at preserving organic material. Last year, scientists resurrected microscopic insects frozen for 46,000 years in Siberian permafrost.

In 2014, Michel Claverie of Aix-Marseille University and a team of scientists isolated live viruses in Siberia and showed that they could still infect single-celled organisms, despite the fact that they had been buried in permafrost for thousands of years. Are buried. Those viruses can only infect amoebas and pose no threat to humans, but that raises the possibility of other dangerous viruses hiding in the permafrost.

According to Claverie, researchers have identified genomic traces of poxviruses and herpesviruses in permafrost, and those pathogens are known to infect humans.