48,500 Yr Old ‘Zombie Virus’ Comes Alive Again

Thousands of years old viruses buried in the ice of permafrost are getting alive again due to global warming. They may add to the pathogen threats to humans. Recently scientists revived around 24 viruses under a frozen lake in Russia’s Siberia. One of them was more than 48,500 years old.

European scientists have these new pathogens as “zombie viruses.” These viruses are still infectious even after remaining frozen for thousands of years.

The oldest located virus Pandoravirus Yedoma is 48,500 years old. It breaks the previous record held by a 30,000-year-old virus discovered in 2013.

With global warming, the melting of ancient permafrost will release unknown ancient viruses. So, scientists are keeping a close watch on the discovery of thousands of years old pathogens from the thawing of permafrost layers.