In the ice of Russia found an ancient virus

French scientists have discovered a mysterious virus Pithovirus sibericum in the deep layers of permafrost at a depth of 30 meters on the Kolyma river in Russia.

The virus infects only single-celled organisms and is not similar to any known pathogen that can infect humans. However, the new discovery increases the likelihood that climate warming may lead to the revival of the ancient or eradicated viruses. This could include Neanderthal viruses and the smallpox virus, dormant in the ice for thousands of years.





Pithovirus sibericum belongs to the family of giant viruses that were open 10 years ago, and they are so large that they can be seen through a microscope. The size of the virus is 1.5 micrometers in length (1 micrometer=10-6 meters), the largest of the detected viruses.
The virus infects amoebas, but not cells of animals and humans. The causative agent belongs to the previously unknown family of viruses called Pithovirus, which one third of the genes have something in common with other known organisms and only 11 percent with other viruses.




In this regard, there is the possibility that dormant viruses and eradicated in the Arctic can be as climate warming. However, not everyone believes that such viruses pose a potential threat. As explained Settl Curtis (Curtis Suttle) marine virologist at the University Britanskoi Columbia in Canada, we breathe in thousands of viruses every day, and swallow billions when swimming in the sea.
"I would be much more worried about the hundreds of millions of people who will start to move because of sea-level rise", — he explained.
The most dangerous viruses
1. HIV -3,1 million deaths per year
2. Rotavirus -611 000 deaths per year
3. Hepatitis b – 521 deaths per year
4. Flu viruses – 500 000 deaths per year
5. Hepatitis C — 500 000 deaths associated with the virus per year
6. The measles virus – 197,000 deaths per year
7. Hantaviruses – 70,000 deaths per year
8. The rabies virus is 55 000 deaths per year
9. Yellow fever virus – 30,000 deaths per year
10. The virus of dengue fever and 25 000 deaths per year

Source: mirfactov.com/