In addition, the U.S. Department of Agriculture keeps a list of potential agroterrorism agents, and Fusarium graminearum is not on that list, Allen said.
Fusarium graminearum is not at the top of the list of concerning pathogens, Gary Bergstrom, a professor emeritus of plant pathology, told ABC News.
Later in the year, the concern of Fusarium graminearum moves to corn, Esker said.
Since then, monitoring programs have been put in place to mitigate the impacts of Fusarium graminearum on crops, Esker said.
The occurrence of Fusarium graminearum is strongly impacted by weather conditions — especially excess moisture, the experts said.
Authorities in the United States accuse two Chinese nationals of smuggling the biological pathogen into the country. A. Experts in plant pathology say it was probably not an act of “agroterrorism,” but it can be worrying for farming communities.
Zunyong Liu, 34, and Yunqing Jian, 33, both People’s Republic of China citizens, were detained on suspicion of bringing a plant pathogen, Fusarium graminearum, into the United States. A. via the Detroit Metropolitan Airport, as stated by the U.S. A. The Justice Department.
The criminal complaint filed in the Eastern District of Michigan claims that Jian received funding from the Chinese government for her research on this pathogen in China and reportedly planned to bring it to a laboratory at the University of Michigan. According to the Justice Department, Liu, Jian’s boyfriend, works at a Chinese university and studies the same pathogen.
“Scientific literature classifies [the pathogen] as a potential agroterrorism weapon,” according to federal prosecutors, who emphasize that it is the “most serious national security concern.”. “.”.
Although the pathogen is a concern for the agricultural sector, experts in plant pathology told ABC News that it is not necessarily one of the biggest threats the sector faces.
Infection outbreaks caused by Fusarium graminearum already happen naturally in dozens of U. S. . states—basically, any government-established state in the United States that produces wheat and barley. A. Caitlyn Allen, an emeritus professor of plant pathology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told ABC News that she has been doing this for at least 125 years. Additionally, the U.S. A. “Fusarium graminearum is not on the Department of Agriculture’s list of potential agroterrorism agents,” Allen told reporters.
Allen stated that “we’re not talking about something that just got imported from China.”. “People ought not to be in a panic. “..”.
Plant pathology professor emeritus Gary Bergstrom told ABC News that Fusarium graminearum is not the most dangerous pathogen.
“I don’t think the risk is as high compared to some other things,” he stated. “While it’s not zero, it wouldn’t be nearly as concerning as the unintentional or other introduction of some severe diseases that we currently don’t have. “.
Prosecutors would need to prove that the Fusarium graminearum samples are more aggressive than local strains, possibly possess different mycotoxin production capabilities, or exhibit greater resistance to some of the instruments used in the United States in order for them to be classified as an agroterrorism threat. A. Bergstrom stated.
Paul Esker, a professor of plant pathology and epidemiology at Penn State University, told ABC News that researchers are “well-versed” in Fusarium graminearum.
Esker stated that “it’s one of the ones that would be at the lower end of the spectrum for risk.”. “We are equipped to handle it. “..”.
lessening the harmful fungus’s danger.
Fusarium graminearum belongs to the same general group as yeast, which is used to make bread and beer, and fungi are the largest group of plant pathogens, according to Allen. The fungus’s spores can infect the heads of wheat and barley and then enter the seeds, where they can grow.
“As it typically happens for wheat and barley at this time of year and for corn later in the year, agricultural industries have already been gathering to prepare for the threat of Fusarium graminearum,” Esker, who recently attended one such meeting on Tuesday, said.
Esker stated that the Fusarium graminearum issue shifts to corn later in the year.
Allen added that the USDA spends “quite a bit of money every year” on research on wheat and barley, and that the sample that the authorities seized was probably going to the University of Michigan lab that examines how plants resist disease.
She added that breeding crops that are resistant to the disease removes the need for fungicides, making it “one of the most useful ways of solving disease problems on our crops.”. “This is something that humans have done for as long as we have been cultivating plants. “.”.
Head blight: what is it?
Despite the fact that the experts in plant pathogens speculate that the reason for bringing the U.S. S. was probably innocent, they warn that the fungus’s effects can still pose a serious risk to U. S. produce.
Prosecutors claimed that the noxious fungus, which causes “head blight,” a disease of rice, wheat, barley, and maize, costs the global economy billions of dollars annually. According to proponents, the toxins can harm the liver, induce vomiting, and cause birth defects in both humans and animals.
Allen stated that “farmers who are growing wheat and barley in the United States now are already facing a significant threat or issue from Fusarium head blight.”. It’s among the most significant crop diseases in terms of losses that are currently occurring. “.
According to Bergstrom, farmers who are unable to sell their commodity suffer financial losses.
“A number of epidemics in the upper Midwest in the 1990s caused a billion-dollar loss over several years,” he said.
According to Esker, since then, monitoring initiatives have been implemented to lessen Fusarium graminearum’s negative effects on crops.
According to Bergstrom, there are documented cases of the disease in North and South America, Europe, and China, making it a global concern.
“Like people, plants can become ill, and the disease we’re discussing, Fusarium, or head blight, is a major issue on wheat, barley, and some other grains worldwide,” Allen stated.
A poison known as a mycotoxin or fungus toxin, which is sometimes referred to as the “vomit toxin” due to its detrimental effects on both human and animal digestive symptoms, can be produced by the fungus, according to Bergstrom.
According to the experts, weather conditions, particularly excessive moisture, have a significant influence on the occurrence of Fusarium graminearum.
“I do not anticipate seeing the disease if the weather is extremely dry,” Esker stated.
Something about “bad judgment?”.
According to Allen, the most frequent way that plant pathogens spread is through human accident.
The experts stated that the USDA has a broad set of regulations to control pathogens. According to Bergstrom, researchers must present background data on the strain, explain their reasoning for determining whether it poses a risk to local agriculture and human health, and outline their strategy for pathogen containment before the USDA will issue an Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service permit to import a foreign strain into the nation.
strains from other U.S. states as well. S. must go through the same procedure, according to Bergstrom.
strains from outside the United States. S. undergo additional examination, which will include a look at the researchers’ labs, Esker stated.
“That is a very sound policy, good science,” Bergstrom stated.
Whether Jian and Liu had such permits is unknown.
Allen thinks the incident was the result of “bad judgment” by enthusiastic researchers rather than smuggling.
She remarked, “I’m a biologist, right? But I’m also a biologist who has trained dozens of young scientists over my career.”.
