We have had antibiotics for almost a century, ever since Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin. What would happen if we were suddenly exposed to deadly bacteria and viruses that have been absent for thousands of years, or that we have never met before?
We may be about to find out. Permafrost soils that have been frozen for thousands of years is melting, and as the soils melt they are releasing ancient viruses and bacteria that, having lain dormant, are springing back to life.
In August 2016, in a remote corner of Siberian tundra called the Yamal Peninsula in the Arctic Circle, a 12-year-old boy died and at least twenty people were hospitalized after being infected by anthrax. The theory is that, over 75 years ago, a reindeer infected with anthrax died and its frozen carcass became trapped under a layer of frozen soil, known as permafrost. There it stayed until a heat wave in the summer of 2016, when the permafrost thawed. This exposed the reindeer corpse and released infectious anthrax into nearby water and soil, and then into the food supply. More than 2,000 reindeer grazing nearby became infected, which then led to the small number of human cases. The fear is that this will not be an isolated case.
As the Earth warms, more permafrost will melt. Under normal circumstances, superficial permafrost layers about 50cm deep melt every summer. But now warming temperatures globally are gradually exposing older permafrost layers.
Frozen permafrost soil is the perfect place for bacteria to remain alive for very long periods of time. That means melting ice could potentially open a Pandora’s box of diseases. The temperature in the Arctic Circle is rising quickly, about three times faster than in the rest of the world. As the ice and permafrost melt, other infectious agents may be released.
What else is lurking beneath the frozen soil? People and animals have been buried in permafrost for centuries, so it is conceivable that other infectious agents could be unleashed. For instance, scientists have found fragments of RNA from the 1918 Spanish flu virus in corpses buried in mass graves in Alaska’s tundra. Smallpox and the bubonic plague are also likely buried in Siberia.
In 2011, Boris Revich and Marina Podolnaya wrote: “As a consequence of permafrost melting, the vectors of deadly infections of the 18th and 19th Centuries may come back, especially near the cemeteries where the victims of these infections were buried.” This could include small pox and other viruses as well as bacteria such as botulism. Studies have shown that it is possible to revive these deadly organisms. While most frozen bacteria can’t be resurrected, some like Anthrax form spores, which are extremely hardy and can survive frozen for longer than a century.
Some bacteria in permafrost have DNA that encodes virulence factors: molecules that pathogenic bacteria and viruses produce, which increase their ability to infect a host. And some of them (i.e. microbes found inside crystals in a Mexican mine) have somehow become resistant to 18 types of antibiotics including drugs considered to be a “last resort” for fighting infections. These bacteria have been isolated in a cave and have not had contact with human beings or man-made antibiotic drugs. That means its antibiotic resistance must have arisen in some other way such as contact with natural antibiotics. Natural antibiotic resistance is probably so prevalent that many of the bacteria emerging from melting permafrost may already have it. Recent studies from bacteria in permafrost revealed genes encoding resistance to beta-lactam, tetracycline and glycopeptide antibiotics.
How much should we be concerned about all this? As Earth warms northern countries will become more susceptible to outbreaks of “southern” diseases like malaria, cholera and dengue fever, as these pathogens thrive at warmer temperatures. “Pathogenic microbes could be revived, and infect us,” says John Michel Claverie, a biologist at Aix-Marseille University in France. “How likely that is, is not known, but it’s a possibility. It could be bacteria that are curable with antibiotics, or resistant bacteria, or a virus. If the pathogen hasn’t been in contact with humans for a long time, then our immune system would not be prepared. So yes, that could be dangerous,” he added.
“Christ is coming soon.” He declared that when there would be wars and rumors of wars, when there would be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places, we might know that the time of His second appearing is near. “When these things begin to come to pass,” He declared, “then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” Peter’s Counsel to Parents, page 33.