The World Health Organization (WHO) recently conducted a simulation exercise in which a prehistoric virus, dormant in the remains of a woolly mammoth, triggered a deadly global outbreak of “mammoth pox.” This information was reported by the British newspaper The Telegraph, which obtained documents detailing the exercise. According to the WHO’s press release, more than 15 countries participated in the Polaris exercise, which simulated the spread of a fictional virus around the world. The aim of the exercise was to test readiness for a new pandemic. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned in early April that a new pandemic could occur “in 20 years or more, but also tomorrow” describing it as an “epidemiological certainty.” The simulation scenario involved the outbreak of “mammoth pox” a fictional virus resembling smallpox, a disease with a 30% mortality rate that was eradicated in 1980 and Mpox, a dangerous variant that is currently spreading in Central Africa. The virus was released when a team of scientists and documentary filmmakers excavated the remains of a woolly mammoth in the Arctic. Within weeks, intensive care units around the world were “overwhelmed” and healthcare systems struggled to keep up. Although the participating countries managed to contain the fictional virus, the WHO admitted that a real outbreak would be much more complicated. The information material from the WHO explains that “prehistoric viruses can remain viable for thousands of years in permafrost” and the thawing of permafrost in the Arctic due to climate change could trigger the “release of previously unknown pathogens.” Exploiting higher temperatures, scientists and ivory hunters have been excavating prehistoric remains in the Arctic, including those of woolly mammoths. Many ivory hunters conducted excavations without appropriate health protection. Researchers have also examined ancient samples and are working to revive “zombie viruses” found in frozen animal remains that may be deadly to humans. In 2023, the French scientist Jean-Michel Claverie revived a virus that was radiocarbon-dated to be 48,500 years old. Claverie had already revived a virus from the permafrost in 2014. However, these viruses differ from modern viruses in that they have a massive size with thousands of genes. Neither the United States nor China participated in the exercise. The exercise was conducted alongside the final negotiations of the WHO’s Pandemic Treaty, which critics see as a tightening of the human rights restrictions of the COVID era.
Mammoth Pox Outbreak Exercise Raises Alarm Among Global Health Experts
