WASHINGTON: Two Chinese language scientists have been charged with allegedly smuggling a poisonous fungus into the USA that they deliberate to analysis at an American college, the Justice Division stated on Tuesday (Jun 4).
Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, are charged with conspiracy, smuggling, false statements, and visa fraud, the US Lawyer’s Workplace for the Jap District of Michigan stated in an announcement.
Jian is in US custody whereas Liu’s whereabouts are unknown.
The Justice Division stated the pair conspired to smuggle a fungus known as Fusarium graminearum into the US that causes “head blight”, a illness of wheat, barley, maize and rice.
The fungus is assessed in scientific literature as a “potential agroterrorism weapon,” it stated, and causes billions of {dollars} in losses annually.
It causes vomiting, liver injury and reproductive defects in people and livestock, it stated.
