Zombie Viruses Waking Up After 50,000 Years

SIBERIA – The thawing of ancient permafrost due to climate change may pose a new threat to humans. That’s according to researchers who revived nearly two dozen viruses – including one frozen under a lake more than 48,500 years ago.

Bloomberg reports that European researchers examined ancient samples collected from permafrost in the Siberia region of Russia.

They revived and characterized 13 new pathogens, which they termed “zombie viruses,” and found they remained infectious despite spending many millennia trapped in the frozen ground.

The research reveals these dormant pathogens, awakened by climate change, pose a potential threat to public health as they resurface.