Amid “Zombie Virus” Fears, 13 New Papillomaviruses Found In Antarctica

Scientists have found 13 new viruses in remote part of Antarctica – and claimed that two of them could have impact on humans. The discovery was made by researchers from Arizona State University (ASU). The team studied Weddell seals for two years in the McMurdo Sound area of the Antarctic discovered the viruses from the papillomavirus family. These microscopic organisms have the capacity to infect humans, reptiles, birds and mammals. The viruses were found in the 109 nasal and vaginal swabs taken by the experts between 2015 and 2017.

The study detailing the discovery has been published in the journal Virology. The research team said its discovery will help future researchers understand the evolution of papillomaviruses.

Melanie Regney, a second-year PhD student and lead author of the paper, said she is excited to find the viruses in creatures ignored by other scientists.

“Viruses are everywhere. They’re the most abundant entity in the universe. But despite that, they’re one of the things we know the least about. We don’t even know most of them exist,” she said in a release posted on the university’s website.

“Antarctica as a whole continent is very pristine. It’s the only one that still remains the least touched by human presence… so we don’t know a lot about it. Studying the evolutionary aspect of Antarctica’s virome there is very important to understand how the ecosystem works there,” she added.

Ms Regney’s team sequenced the viruses’ genomes and compared them with the genomes of known papillomaviruses, revealing that they had found 13 novel papillomaviruses, 11 of which are entirely new viral types.

In January, scientists had warned about the dangers posed by viruses buried under ice caps in the Arctic and other places. They had said that the melting Arctic permafrost could release the “zombie viruses” and trigger a catastrophic global health emergency.