Latest news with #fungus
BBC News
6 hours ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Chinese nationals accused of smuggling 'biological pathogen' into US
Two Chinese nationals have been accused of smuggling a fungus into the US that officials describe as a "dangerous biological pathogen".Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, have been charged with conspiracy, smuggling goods, false statements, and visa fraud, the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan announced on complaint alleges Mr Liu tried to smuggle the fungus through Detroit airport so he could study it at a University of Michigan laboratory where his girlfriend, Ms Jian, fungus called Fusarium graminearum can cause a disease in wheat, barley, maize and rice that can wipe out crops and lead to vomiting and liver damage if it gets into food. The fungus is described in scientific literature as a "potential agroterrorism weapon", according to the US Attorney's Office, adding it is responsible for "billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year."Officials further allege Ms Jian received funding from the Chinese government for her research on the pathogen in China. They also claim she is a member of the Chinese Communist States Attorney Jerome F Gorgon Jr described the allegations as of the "gravest national security concerns"."These two aliens have been charged with smuggling a fungus that has been described as a 'potential agroterrorism weapon' into in the [sic] heartland of America, where they apparently intended to use a University of Michigan laboratory to further their scheme."The investigation was a joint effort between the FBI and US Customs and Border Jian is due to appear in court in Detroit, Michigan on BBC has reached out to the University of Michigan and the Chinese embassy in Washington DC for comment. The charges come amid strained relations between the US and China, and just days after the Trump administration vowed to "aggressively" revoke the visas of Chinese nationals studying in the US. Beijing also said Washington "severely violated" a trade truce reached in Geneva last month, when both countries lowered tariffs on goods imported from each this week, a Chinese student at the University of Michigan was charged for illegally voting in the October 2024 election.
New York Times
6 hours ago
- Health
- New York Times
U.S. Charges 2 Chinese Students With Smuggling Fungus
The Justice Department announced charges on Tuesday against two Chinese researchers accused of trying to smuggle a fungus into the United States, bringing the case as the government pushes to keep more Chinese students out of the country. The students, Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, were in a romantic relationship last July, when U.S. authorities say Mr. Liu arrived in the country carrying small bags of the fungus Fusarium graminearum, which causes a disease that can cripple wheat, barley, maize and rice. The disease, head blight, is a familiar problem for American farmers, particularly in Northern and Eastern states, according to research funded by the Agriculture Department that has tracked it in 32 states last year. The fungus can be particularly damaging to winter wheat crops. Ms. Jian was arrested and booked in the federal courthouse in Detroit; Mr. Liu is believed to be in China. The criminal charges come as tensions mount between the United States and China over the Trump administration's vow to 'aggressively' revoke student visas for Chinese nationals. Such students, the administration says, risk siphoning off sensitive technology or trade secrets from American labs for the benefit of their home country. Jerome F. Gorgon Jr., the interim U.S. attorney in Detroit, said the researchers' actions amounted to 'the gravest national security concerns,' saying they had tried to bring 'a potential agroterrorism weapon' into 'the heartland of America.' For decades, U.S. national security officials have worried about — and sometimes arrested — Chinese academics suspected of stealing scientific data from American universities and businesses. The Trump administration's new push goes further by stripping an unspecified number of students of visas. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
CBS News
8 hours ago
- Health
- CBS News
2 Chinese nationals accused of smuggling "dangerous biological pathogen" into Michigan
Two Chinese nationals are accused of smuggling a "potential agroterrorism weapon" via a noxious fungus into the U.S., according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan. Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, both citizens of the People's Republic of China, were charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy, smuggling goods into the United States, false statements, and visa fraud, officials said in a complaint unsealed Tuesday. It is the second time in a week that a Chinese national with ties to the University of Michigan has been charged in a federal investigation. Last week, a Chinese national who was attending the Ann Arbor-based university, was charged with illegally voting in the November 2024 election. Jian worked at the University of Michigan, according to officials. Her boyfriend, Liu, works at a Chinese university. The investigation is a joint effort of the FBI and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. "The alleged actions of these Chinese nationals— including a loyal member of the Chinese Communist Party—are of the gravest national security concerns," U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon Jr. said in his statement. "These two aliens have been charged with smuggling a fungus that has been described as a 'potential agroterrorism weapon' into the heartland of America, where they apparently intended to use a University of Michigan laboratory to further their scheme." The district attorney's office was supported in the announcement by Special Agent in Charge Cheyvoryea Gibson, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Detroit Division and Marty C. Raybon, Director of Field Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The FBI arrested Jian in connection with smuggling activity into America a fungus called Fusarium graminearum, which scientific literature classifies as a potential agroterrorism weapon. Officials said the "noxious fungus causes 'head blight,' a disease of wheat, barley, maize, and rice, and is responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year. Fusarium graminearum's toxins cause vomiting, liver damage, and reproductive defects in humans and livestock." According to the complaint, Jian received Chinese government funding for her work on this pathogen in China. The complaint also alleges that Jian's electronics contain information describing her membership in and loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party. It is further alleged that Jian's boyfriend, Liu, works at a Chinese university where he conducts research on the same pathogen and that he first lied but then admitted to smuggling Fusarium graminearum through Detroit Metropolitan Airport so that he could conduct research on it at the laboratory at the University of Michigan where Jian worked. "This was a complex investigation involving CBP offices from across the country, alongside our federal partners. I'm grateful for their tireless efforts, ensuring our borders remain secure from all types of threats while safeguarding America's national security interests," Raybon said. Jian will make her first appearance in court Tuesday afternoon in federal court in Detroit. CBS News Detroit has reached out to the University of Michigan for comment.
New York Times
6 days ago
- Health
- New York Times
A Fungus Devastated North American Bats. A New Species Could Deliver a Killer Blow.
In the winter of 2006, biologists in New York State got a gruesome surprise. As they surveyed colonies of hibernating bats, they discovered heaps of dead animals on the floors of caves and abandoned mines. The culprit was a fungus new to science. It caused white-nose disease, named for the fuzzy pale tendrils that sprouted from the nostrils of its victims. (The disease was originally known as white-nose syndrome, but was renamed in recent years.) The fungus, Pseudogymnoascus destructans, or P. destructans, has spread from New York to 40 states and nine Canadian provinces. 'This is the most dramatic wildlife mortality event that's ever been documented from a pathogen,' said DeeAnn Reeder, a disease ecologist at Bucknell University. 'Millions and millions and millions of animals have died.' In recent years, bat experts have gained some guarded optimism. They have found ways to protect bats from white-nose disease and to help infected animals survive. But a new study published on Wednesday raised the possibility that North American bats could get slammed by a second wave of white-nose disease. An extensive genetic survey has found that Pseudogymnoascus destructans is actually two species native to Europe and Asia. Only one has reached North America. If the second one is introduced to the continent, it could start another devastating epidemic. 'It's like a reboot,' said Dr. Reeder, who was not involved in the study. 'I think it's terrifying, honestly.' The leader of the new study, Sébastien Puechmaille of the University of Montpellier, was still a graduate student studying bat conservation 17 years ago when his American colleagues at scientific conferences told him about a new plague. 'We'd be talking, and then they said, 'Yeah, we have these bats that are dying with something growing on them, possibly a fungus,'' Dr. Puechmaille recalled. Dr. Puechmaille and his European colleagues knew that European bats sometimes grew fuzzy white patches on their noses, too. But their infections weren't lethal, so researchers paid little attention to them. 'And then, very quickly, we found out that it was similar to what was found in North America,' Dr. Puechmaille said. That discovery led Dr. Puechmaille to dedicate his career to understanding the new fungus. He helped chart its range across Europe and as far east as South Korea. Yet nowhere in Europe or Asia did P. destructans cause mass die-offs like it did in North America. Dr. Puechmaille and his colleagues worked out the reason for this sharp contrast. The fungus originally evolved in Europe and Asia, where it developed a peaceful coexistence with bats over millions of years. The fungus only grows at the cool temperatures in a bat's hibernating body. It causes no lasting harm to the animals, which warm up in the spring and shed the fungus. When the bats leave their caves, they leave behind fungal spores that can infect new hosts the next winter. 'When the bat comes back in autumn, if it touches the wall with its wings or ears or anything else, then some spores get onto it, and the cycle starts again,' Dr. Puechmaille said. When P. destructans suddenly appeared in North America in the early 2000s, the bats there were ill-equipped to handle the new disease. As their immune systems struggled against the fungus, they woke up often during the winter and burned up their fat reserves. By the spring, many infected bats had starved to death. To reconstruct the deep history of P. destructans, Dr. Puechmaille enlisted a network of hundreds of volunteers to amass a collection of fungal samples. He and his colleagues then sequenced the DNA of more than 5,400 samples for clues into how the fungus evolved, and how it managed to reach North America. All the samples of P. destructans that scientists have studied in North America are nearly identical clones. They all must have descended from a single spore introduced to the continent, presumably not long before the discovery of the disease in 2006 in New York. Until now, scientists had little idea where exactly the North American fungus came from across the range of P. destructans, which stretches more than 5,000 miles. 'We had nothing to pin it down,' Dr. Puechmaille said. In their new study, Dr. Puechmaille and his colleagues discovered that the North American fungi closely match samples collected from bats hibernating in caves in the Podillia region of Ukraine. The analysis zeroed in on an 18-square-mile area as the most likely origin of the spore that started the North American epidemic. After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, American spelunkers made contact with their Ukrainian counterparts and started exploring Podillia's maze of caves. Dr. Puechmaille speculated that spore-riddled mud could have stuck to a caver's gear and survived a trip back to the United States. That caver may have then unwittingly transported the spore to a New York cave on a boot or a rope, setting off a new epidemic. 'We do not want to blame people,' Dr. Puechmaille said. 'The only thing we wanted to do was to find evidence that there was definitely a movement between these regions.' The study not only clarifies the origin of the white-nose epidemic in North America but also raises serious concerns about a future outbreak. Dr. Puechmaille discovered that the fungal samples belonged to two genetically distinct groups. That means P. destructans is not one species, as originally thought, but two, called Pd-1 and Pd-2 for the time being. The two species split from a common ancestor roughly a million years ago. The range of Pd-1 extends throughout Europe as far east as the Ural Mountains in Russia. Pd-2 is less common in Europe, but also extends into Asia. The two species of fungi seem to specialize on certain species of bats, although Dr. Puechmaille's team has discovered some individual bats in Europe infected with both Pd-1 and Pd-2. The North American epidemic was caused solely by Pd-1. If Pd-2 reaches North America, Dr. Puechmaille warns, it could cause trouble as well. Bat species hit hard by Pd-1 might get pushed to extinction, and species that managed to resist Pd-1 could succumb to Pd-2. 'It's really important for conservation that we should set up some policies to prevent this second fungal pathogen from being transported to other continents, including North America,' Dr. Puechmaille said. People should not move cave equipment between countries, he said, and they should disinfect it between expeditions. 'A single spore is enough,' he warned.
The Sun
23-05-2025
- Health
- The Sun
Cheap 89p kitchen ingredient helps to keep your lawn looking green and soft – and it repels pests too
A SIMPLE garden hack can help to protect your plants from dangerous diseases. The 89p kitchen ingredient could prevent the spread of disease in your plants. 3 Cinnamon has several anti-fungal qualities that can prevent diseases from spreading among your plants. Experts recommend using the cheap kitchen item to help keep your garden healthy. Plants can benefit immensely from a sprinkling of cinnamon. The ingredient can be bought for just 89p in Aldi and could drastically improve the health of your garden plants. Adding both a lovely smell and a health benefit to your garden, using the cheap item is the ideal garden hack. Because cinnamon sucks the moisture out of fungus it prevents it from spreading. Fungus needs damp conditions to grow and can infect your plants quickly. Using a sprinkling of cinnamon prevents this by sucking the moisture from the fungus and preventing its growth and spread. Aldi sells 40g of cinnamon for less than a pound, more than enough to cover your garden plants and not break the bank. The powdered seasoning can be spread on lawns, plants, flowers and bushes to help prevent fungal diseases from spreading. The ingredient can also reportedly keep flies and other pests off plants. 3 It is said to work as a natural pest repellent and experts recommend using a dash on your plants to reap the benefits. The budget buy poses no risk to the plants themselves and is purely beneficial. Experts have warned that when plants are watered the cinnamon washes away. Reapplying the cinnamon each time your plants are watered is the easiest solution. Using a small amount on plants first is recommended as some may recoil from the kitchen item. Experts recommend using organic cinnamon for gardening only. Cinnamon with added sugar, chemicals or artificial ingredients could be harmful to your plants.
