A team of medical professionals from the University of Aix-Marseille (France) discovered ancient "pandoraviruses" (Pandoravirus yedoma) in the melting permafrost of Siberia, Russia.

This was reported in Science Alert reported, as well as a number of mass media.

Due to global warming, vast layers of permafrost are melting, releasing material that has been trapped in the ice for years.

And these are many microbes, which in some cases were in a state of rest for hundreds of thousands of years.

Scientists warn long-frozen 'zombie virus' is 'public health threat' amid thaw https://t.co/yxke1wM7US pic.twitter.com/d3cjaBhbCu

— New York Post (@nypost) November 28, 2022

To study the new microbes, scientists revived a number of these "zombie viruses" from Siberian permafrost, including one believed to be nearly 50,000 years old, a record for a frozen virus returning to a state capable of infecting other organisms.

Pandora virus, nypost.com

The virus was discovered at the bottom of a lake in Yakutia, where it had been stored for many years. 

Professor Jean-Michel Clavery, who led the groundbreaking research, issued a stark warning to medical authorities in the first major update on "living" viruses in permafrost since 2015.

"Resuscitating viruses are a potential threat to human health. Further research is needed to assess the dangers of these infectious agents. One quarter of the Northern Hemisphere is covered by permanently frozen soil called permafrost. Due to global warming, the irreversible melting of permafrost releases organic matter, frozen up to a million years, most of which decompose into carbon dioxide and methane, further increasing the greenhouse effect," the researcher noted.

Why did scientists revive the virus?

The scientists aimed to study new microbes, so they revived a number of these "zombie viruses" from the Siberian permafrost, including one believed to be nearly 50,000 years old.

"This is a record age for a frozen virus that returns to a state capable of infecting other organisms," experts note.

The recently thawed virus may only be the tip of the epidemiological iceberg, as other dormant viruses are likely to be discovered.

If the authors do indeed isolate live viruses from ancient permafrost, it is likely that even smaller, simpler mammalian viruses would also survive frozen for eons.

The thawed virus is one of 13 that scientists reported on in the new study.

The researchers found that each of them differs from all other known viruses in its genome.

While the record-breaking virus was found under the lake, other "finds" scientists made were in mammoth fur and the intestines of a Siberian wolf, all buried under permafrost.

Using live cultures of single-celled amoebae, the team proved that viruses still have the potential to be infectious pathogens.

"We're also seeing huge numbers of bacteria entering the environment as the world warms, but given the antibiotics we have at our disposal, it's safe to say they'll be less of a threat. A new virus, like SARS-CoV-2, could be much more problematic for public health, especially as the Arctic becomes more populated," the researchers noted.

As a reminder, during 2022-2023, 

four influenza viruses will spread in Ukraine.

 In addition, the coronavirus will circulate.

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