Humanity faces a peculiar and alarming threat, caution scientists. The Arctic permafrost, home to ancient viruses, could become a source of a devastating new pandemic due to Earth's warming climate.
Termed Methuselah microbes or colloquially referred to as zombie viruses, strains of these ancient pathogens have already been identified by researchers. This discovery has raised concerns about the potential emergence of a global medical crisis not triggered by a new scientific illness but by diseases from our distant past.
In response, scientists are taking proactive measures by planning an Arctic monitoring network. This network aims to identify early cases of diseases caused by ancient microorganisms, establish quarantine measures, and provide expert medical treatment to contain and prevent the spread of outbreaks, restricting them to the region.
Geneticist Jean-Michel Claverie from Aix-Marseille University emphasizes the oversight in current pandemic threat analyses, which predominantly focus on diseases emerging in southern regions. He highlights the need to consider outbreaks originating in the far north, with the potential to travel south. According to Claverie, viruses in the Arctic hold the potential to infect humans and initiate new disease outbreaks.
Virologist Marion Koopmans of the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam supports this concern, suggesting the possibility of a virus capable of triggering a disease outbreak, possibly an ancient form of polio, lying dormant in the permafrost.
In 2014, Claverie and his team isolated live viruses in Siberia, proving their ability to infect single-cell organisms despite millennia in permafrost. Further research conducted last year identified various viral strains across seven sites in Siberia, capable of infecting cultured cells. Notably, one virus sample dated back 48,500 years.
While the isolated viruses posed no threat to humans, the existence of genomic traces of poxviruses and herpesviruses in the permafrost raises concerns about potential risks. Permafrost, covering a significant portion of the northern hemisphere, remains an ideal preservation environment for biological material due to its cold, dark, and oxygen-lacking conditions.
However, the changing climate poses a threat to permafrost stability. The melting upper layers in Canada, Siberia, and Alaska, accelerated by disproportionate Arctic climate change, could release ancient pathogens. Yet, the immediate risk lies not in melting permafrost but in the disappearing Arctic sea ice. The surge in shipping, traffic, and industrial activities in Siberia could expose miners to these ancient viruses, leading to potentially calamitous consequences.
In the face of these risks, understanding and mitigating the impact of climate change on permafrost is crucial to prevent the release of ancient pathogens and safeguard global health. As the Arctic landscape transforms, the potential for unforeseen health challenges underscores the need for proactive measures and continued research.
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