Furs & Flowers adoption event held at Expo New Mexico
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Albuquerque residents had an opportunity to find their new furry best friend at Saturday's free Furs and Flowers adoption event. Eight shelters, 30 pet-friendly vendors, and even a bird rescue all took part in the adoption extravaganza inside Expo New Mexico.
Japanese Garden at ABQ BioPark Botantic Garden closed through Tuesday
The organizers of the event, Mutt Made Miracles, said they hope today helps animals and humans get linked up. 'We want to get as many dogs adopted as we can, we've been working; we're working on six adoptions today, and we've been, we're about 30 minutes into our event,' said Tito Montes, President of Mutt Made Miracles.
The next two big events to put on your calendar are August's Bark to School fundraiser and a Halloween spook-tacular. For more information, click this link.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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CNET
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CBS News
29 minutes ago
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Fungus in "agroterrorism" arrest already widely prevalent in U.S., researcher says
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CNN
41 minutes ago
- CNN
What is Fusarium graminearum, the fungus 2 Chinese researchers are charged with smuggling into the US?
FacebookTweetLink Follow Two Chinese researchers were charged with smuggling a fungus classified 'as a potential agroterrorism weapon' that could decimate crops and impact human health into the US last summer in a wad of tissues, according to an FBI affidavit in support of the criminal complaint filed Tuesday. Testing at an FBI laboratory discovered a sample containing the DNA sequence that 'would allow a researcher to propagate live Fusarium graminearum,' a fungus that causes 'head blight,' in the biological materials that Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, allegedly smuggled into the US, according to the complaint. Fusarium head blight, or FHB, is a devastating disease for staple crops like wheat, barley, maize and rice. The fungus' toxins can lead to 'vomiting, liver damage, and reproductive defects in humans and livestock,' according to a news release from the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan. 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According to records maintained by the USDA, the Chinese researchers now charged never applied for, nor were issued, a permit to import the pathogen, the complaint said. USDA permitting 'is a mechanism that's used all the time,' Bergstrom said. 'We've used it in labs in our university and across the United States. It just takes a little time, like you're applying for any application.' Bergstrom said the danger with a pathogen being brought into the United States uncontrolled 'would be if some new trait was introduced with a new strain that got out into the system.' 'Maybe it's less sensitive to the fungicides we use, or maybe it has a particular strain, has a different spectrum of these fungal toxins that it produces,' Bergstrom said, noting that there is a tremendous variation in the fungus Fusarium graminearum in North America and across the world. Bergstrom said that while he thinks the fungus is 'kind of unlikely to be selected as an agent' for agroterrorism, 'a lot of things are possible.' 'Some other things that don't occur at all in the United States, that are on APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) watch list we are worried about … and would be an immediate serious concern,' Bergstom said. 'I wouldn't put that (Fusarium graminearum) in this category.' Grains infected with Fusarium graminearum have mycotoxins and eating them is 'known to cause gastrointestinal disorders, skin irritation, and neuroendocrine changes,' according to a recent study by researchers in Poland. In humans, the fungus has been linked to effects on the digestive system, including nausea and vomiting, Bergstrom said, and chronic exposure 'has wide-ranging effects, including neurological disorders and immunosuppression,' according to the journal of Molecular Plant Pathology article. The mycotoxins also impact animals, causing them to refuse food or develop diarrhea, haemorrhaging and irritated skin, the article said. The predominant toxin associated with FHB infections in the United States is deoxynivalenol (DON), which is also known as vomitoxin because consumption can cause vomiting. The US Food and Drug Administration has established guidelines for DON levels in human food and animal feed. 'Milling and baking further reduce vomitoxin levels. Brewing companies will not purchase grain with even a trace of a vomitoxin,' the USDA says. 'In the unlikely event that vomitoxin ends up in the food supply despite all the industry safeguards, a person will have to eat enormous quantities of the product for the toxin to have any effect.' Some research has shown that Fusarium graminearum is becoming 'increasingly resistant' to fungicides, prompting the search for new fungicides 'to effectively target FHB and reduce the pathogen's ability to biosynthesize mycotoxins.' 'That's something we need to monitor very closely,' Bergstrom said. The researchers in Poland also noted that this increasing resistance warrants further research 'to improve molecular methods for detecting fungicide-resistant strains and strains with a modified ability to produce mycotoxins,' and to introduce resistant wheat varieties that can effectively suppresses the development of Fusarium graminearum infections. 'We basically take an integrated management approach to these diseases,' Bergstrom explained. 'There's no one silver bullet. We don't have a completely immune variety of plant, but we have some that are way more resistant than others.'