Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2025 Feb 18;10(2):e0004224.
doi: 10.1128/msystems.00042-24. Epub 2025 Jan 8.

Cooling perspectives on the risk of pathogenic viruses from thawing permafrost

Rachel Mackelprang  1 , Robyn A Barbato  2 , Andrew M Ramey  3 , Ursel M E Schütte  4 , Mark P Waldrop  5
Affiliations
Review

Cooling perspectives on the risk of pathogenic viruses from thawing permafrost

Rachel Mackelprang et al. mSystems. .

Abstract

Climate change is inducing wide-scale permafrost thaw in the Arctic and subarctic, triggering concerns that long-dormant pathogens could reemerge from the thawing ground and initiate epidemics or pandemics. Viruses, as opposed to bacterial pathogens, garner particular interest because outbreaks cannot be controlled with antibiotics, though the effects can be mitigated by vaccines and newer antiviral drugs. To evaluate the potential hazards posed by viral pathogens emerging from thawing permafrost, we review information from a diverse range of disciplines. This includes efforts to recover infectious virus from human remains, studies on disease occurrence in polar animal populations, investigations into viral persistence and infectivity in permafrost, and assessments of human exposure to the enormous viral diversity present in the environment. Based on currently available knowledge, we conclude that the risk posed by viruses from thawing permafrost is no greater than viruses in other environments such as temperate soils and aquatic systems.

Keywords: climate change; environmental microbiology; permafrost thaw; viruses.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Schuur EAG, McGuire AD, Schädel C, Grosse G, Harden JW, Hayes DJ, Hugelius G, Koven CD, Kuhry P, Lawrence DM, Natali SM, Olefeldt D, Romanovsky VE, Schaefer K, Turetsky MR, Treat CC, Vonk JE. 2015. Climate change and the permafrost carbon feedback. Nature 520:171–179. doi:10.1038/nature14338 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Waldrop MP, Chabot CL, Liebner S, Holm S, Snyder MW, Dillon M, Dudgeon SR, Douglas TA, Leewis M-C, Walter Anthony KM, McFarland JW, Arp CD, Bondurant AC, Taş N, Mackelprang R. 2023. Permafrost microbial communities and functional genes are structured by latitudinal and soil geochemical gradients. ISME J 17:1224–1235. doi:10.1038/s41396-023-01429-6 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Burkert A, Douglas TA, Waldrop MP, Mackelprang R. 2019. Changes in the active, dead, and dormant microbial community structure across a pleistocene permafrost chronosequence. Appl Environ Microbiol 85:e02646-18. doi:10.1128/AEM.02646-18 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Price PB, Sowers T. 2004. Temperature dependence of metabolic rates for microbial growth, maintenance, and survival. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 101:4631–4636. doi:10.1073/pnas.0400522101 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Abramov A, Vishnivetskaya T, Rivkina E. 2021. Are permafrost microorganisms as old as permafrost? FEMS Microbiol Ecol 97:fiaa260. doi:10.1093/femsec/fiaa260 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources