2023-09-19 01:16:54
For millions of years, humans have coexisted with countless viruses and bacteria. Over the years and the evolution of science, experts have developed antibiotics to combat viruses that are harmful to health, however, they have responded by improving their resistance.
During recent years, and as a consequence of climate change that has affected several ecosystems, the melting or thawing of ‘permafrost’, the permanently frozen layer of soil in the polar regions, has been caused, which is releasing ancient viruses and bacteria that have latent and come back to life.
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Some viruses and bacteria survive in the cooling systems of nuclear power plants.
In August 2016, on the Yamal Peninsula in the Arctic Circle, Russia, a 12-year-old boy died and several people were hospitalized following being infected by anthrax. This is believed to have occurred because a reindeer infected with the bacteria died more than 75 years ago and its frozen carcass became trapped under a layer of permafrost, which thawed due to a heat wave.
Experts indicate that as permafrost melts, other infectious agents are released. The temperature in the Arctic Circle is rising regarding three times faster than in the rest of the world, which is gradually exposing the oldest layers of permafrost. This means that microbes, bacteria and viruses that have been frozen for thousands of years might re-emerge.
???? The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns regarding the presence of a flesh-eating bacteria in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.
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St. Louis Red Cross Corps on duty during the American influenza epidemic.
Scientists have discovered fragments of RNA from the 1918 Spanish flu virus and smallpox and bubonic plague are also thought to be buried in Siberia.
In addition to permafrost, microbes up to 50,000 years old have also been found inside crystals in a mine in Mexico and bacteria more than 4 million years old in a cave in New Mexico.
These organisms have developed natural resistance to antibiotics over millions of years. Many bacteria naturally produce antibiotics to gain a competitive advantage over other microbes. In caves, where there is little food, organisms must be ruthless to survive, which has led to the development of antibiotic resistance.
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It is important to note that ancient microbes and viruses that would be ‘re-emerging’ do not necessarily pose an immediate threat to humans. However, it is essential to study and understand these phenomena to be prepared and take the necessary measures to protect our health and the health of the environment.
Boris Revich, head of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said that due to the effects of global warming and the melting of the poles: “the vectors of deadly infections of the 18th and 19th centuries may return, especially near the cemeteries where the dead were buried. victims of these infections.”
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