Researchers have shown that communicable diseases that are dangerous for local wildlife have infiltrate into the Arctic, Director of Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vyacheslav Rozhnov said.

"The Arctic is currently being penetrated by communicable diseases that never existed before in the Arctic environment. This is very alarming, since infections adapt to animals very quickly and pose a very serious threat," he pointed out.

The researcher went on to say that polar bears can be viewed as the main indicator of the state of the Arctic ecosystem. It turns out that these animals are adapting to the process unfolding in the region quite well. "This gives us hope that the ecosystems will not come to any harm," Rozhnov said.