Zombie Virus Frozen in Woolly Mammoth Remains Feared to Leak from Russian Lab

Zombie viruses frozen in woolly mammoth remains and other prehistoric animals are feared by other scientists to leak from a Russian lab.

The looming threat, comparatively coming from a scene in an apocalyptic movie, involves the potential viral outbreak never encountered by humans and animals in modern times.

The discovery emerged last year and is still drawing concern until early January.

Zombie Virus Outbreak

(Photo : Photo by OLGA MALTSEVA/AFP via Getty Images)

In 2022, details about the potential re-awakening of zombie viruses from Siberia emerged between late November and early December.

With this, Russian scientists are unearthing the bodies of long-dead mammals in an attempt to revive zombie viruses or stone age viruses, according to multiple reports, including from the Daily Mail UK.

Some of these animal carcasses involve woolly mammoths from Siberia, Russia, which died approximately 10,000 years ago.

However, a scientific team reportedly revealed they have already re-awakened a Siberian zombie virus that was frozen under a lake bed for almost 50,000 years.

According to The Washington Post, the findings about the viruses were a result of a collective discovery by a team of European researchers from France, Germany, and Russia, who have found a total of 13 previously unknown or never-before-seen pathogens that had been trapped in the frozen ground of Russia's Siberian region.

The scientists estimated that one of these viruses had been stranded under a lake for more than 48,500 years, where they highlight a potential new danger amid a warming planet.

This prompted the researchers to call the frozen pathogens as "zombie" viruses.

Also Read: Earth Now Closer to Climate Disaster With Signs Including Zombie Virus to Polar Bears Eating Garbage

Russian Lab

The Russian lab is reportedly called "Vector," which aims to understand how viruses evolve by studying such diseases conducted by the Russian Research Centre of Virology and Biotechnology, according to the UK's Express Newspapers, which also said scientists are alarmed over Russia's "risky attempt" to awaken the viruses that killed the mammoths.

The said UK media also reported the project is being overseen at a former bioweapons lab in Russia's Novosibirsk region, but Vector hosts 59 maximum security biolabs worldwide.

Professor Jean-Michel Claverie from the National Centre of Scientific Research at the University of Aix-Marseille also told The Times newspaper expressing his alarm, highlighting that the Russian lab's research is "very, very risky."

Claverie emphasizes that our immune systems have never encountered these types of viruses since time memorial, wherein some of these pathogens could be around 200,000 or even 400,000 years old.

This means immune cells may have no clue on how counter these ancient viruses should a human or animal gets infected.

WHO Inspection

In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) reportedly conducted an inspection of the said Vector facility and found no significant concern even if the establishment had incidences in the past, according to Express UK.

In addition to the mammoths, the scientists at the Novosibirsk Vector facility are also analyzing the remains of wooly rhinoceroses and other Ice Age animals to revive the said prehistoric viruses, also called as paleoviruses, The Times added.

Related Article: FACT CHECK: Scientists Revived 50,000-Year-Old 'Zombie Virus' Under Frozen Lake in Russia, Sparks Public Fears of Another Pandemic