Permafrost as a potential pathogen reservoir

RNA Viruses Linked to Eukaryotic Hosts in Thawed Permafrost

“…There is increasing concern that permafrost could be a reservoir of plant and animal pathogens ( 11 ). This threat was highlighted by an outbreak of anthrax in humans from infected reindeer carcasses that were exposed during permafrost thaw in Siberia, resulting in several deaths ( 12 , 13 ).…”

Over half of known human pathogenic diseases can be aggravated by climate change

“…Floods and storms were commonly associated with wastewater overflow, leading to the direct and foodborne transmission of noroviruses 16 , hantavirus 42 , hepatitis 43 and Cryptosporidium 44 . Warming was also related to melting ice and thawing permafrost exposing once-frozen pathogens 45 . For instance, genetic analyses of an anthrax outbreak in the Arctic circle suggest that the bacterial strain may have been ancient and emerged from an unearthed animal corpse as the frozen ground thawed 46 .…”

“…For instance, genetic analyses of an anthrax outbreak in the Arctic circle suggest that the bacterial strain may have been ancient and emerged from an unearthed animal corpse as the frozen ground thawed 46 . The successful emergence of pathogens frozen in time could be regarded as a ‘Pandora’s box’, given the potentially large pool of pathogens accumulated over time and the extent to which these pathogens may be new to people 45 .…”

“…We found 1,006 unique pathways in which climatic hazards, via different transmission types, resulted in cases of pathogenic diseases (an interactive display of the diseases is available at https://camilo-mora.github.io/Diseases/). Warming (160 unique diseases), precipitation (122), floods (121), drought (81), storms (71), land cover change (61), ocean climate change (43), fires (21), heatwaves (20) and sea level (10) were all found to influence diseases triggered by viruses (76), bacteria (69), animals (45), fungi (24), protozoans (23), plants (12) and chromists (9). Pathogenic diseases were primarily transmitted by vectors (103 unique diseases), although case examples were also found for transmission pathways involving waterborne (78), airborne (60), direct contact (56) and foodborne (50 unique diseases) (Fig.…”

Metagenomes from Arctic Soil Microbial Communities from the Barrow Environmental Observatory, Utqiaġvik, AK, USA

“…De novo annotation of unassembled and SPAdes-assembled ( 9 ) sequences was done in JGI’s Integrated Microbial Genomes & Microbiomes (IMG/M) system ( 10 ). These data provide a resource to analyze microbial functions across topographical features and at different depths at a changing Arctic tundra site in order to understand and predict future climate trends and threads ( 11 – 13 ).…”