Nepal calls for stronger monitoring of microorganisms due to glacier melt
In Nepal, a Kathmandu Post column author called for stronger surveillance of microorganisms in Himalayan glaciers and river basins due to melting ice. Glaciers may preserve bacteria, fungal spores, parasite eggs, and viral particles that entered the ice thousands of years ago.
On August 26, flooding in Bhotekoshi became the second major glacial flood in Nepal over the past 14 months. In early July 2025, the outburst of a supraglacial lake in China’s Gyirong County destroyed the Nepal-China Friendship Bridge, claimed several lives, disrupted critical infrastructure, and halted an important trans-Himalayan trade route for several weeks.
Ancient genetic material in ice
In 2021, researchers discovered viral genetic material nearly 15,000 years old in the Guliya ice cap on the Tibetan Plateau. Most of the identified genomes had no matches in existing databases. Further research traced viral communities back 41,000 years and described 1,700 viral species.
As an example of the dangers associated with thawing permafrost, the publication cites the 2016 anthrax outbreak on Russia’s Yamal Peninsula. After intense heat, the remains of infected animals thawed, and viable bacterial spores entered the environment. More than 2,300 reindeer died, dozens of people were infected, and one person died.
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Antibiotic resistance genes
Researchers have also found plasmids and transposons in permafrost and Himalayan glaciers — mobile genetic elements containing antibiotic resistance and virulence genes. In samples of 30,000-year-old Siberian permafrost, scientists identified a functional vancomycin resistance gene structurally identical to variants currently circulating in intensive care units around the world.
The article says that a 2025 report by Lanzhou University considered glaciers, rivers, and lakes as an interconnected system through which resistance genes can be transported and altered downstream. The column’s author proposes that Nepal conduct metagenomic monitoring and environmental DNA analysis in glaciers and river catchments, as well as develop genetic sequencing capabilities.
According to ICIMOD’s 2023 assessment, ice loss rates in the Hindu Kush-Himalaya region in the 2010s were 65% higher than in the previous decade. The Yala Glacier in Nepal’s Rasuwa District has lost 66% of its surface area since 1974.
