Flu viruses survive frozen in lakes, study finds

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor
2 hours, 24 minutes ago



WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Influenza virus can live for decades and perhaps even longer in frozen lakes and might be picked up and carried by birds to reinfect animals and people, researchers reported on Tuesday.

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Such frozen viruses could potentially become the source of new epidemics that sicken and kill generations after they were last seen, the researchers report in the Journal of Virology.

"We've found viral RNA in the ice in Siberia, and it's along the major flight paths of migrating waterfowl," said Dr. Scott Rogers of Bowling Green State University in Ohio.

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