‘Danger is real’: why viruses long thought extinct are re-emerging

In 2016, a 12-year-old boy died and more than 70 people were hospitalised in north-eastern Siberia after an outbreak of a bacteria that scientists had long believed was dormant.The culprit: global warming.Scientists say the anthrax bacteria was released by the permafrost melting. Temperatures rose, and animals became ill. Then, people ate the meat of a sick reindeer, becoming infected themselves. As global warming thaws soils, releasing pathogens, the occurrence of such outbreaks could become…

Read the original article at South China Morning Post