Two Chinese people have been charged with smuggling head blight to a laboratory at the University of Michigan.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said e-mails indicate the couple planned the smuggling which it said is a disease that could devastate United States crops, so they termed it an act of terrorism.
The pathogen was Fusarium graminearum, a fungus it said was classified in scientific literature as a potential agroterrorism weapon.
In a statement the FBI said that the fungus causes “head blight” in some crops and is responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses globally each year.
It has charged Zunyong Liu, 34, a researcher currently in China, with bringing the fungus to his girlfriend, Yunqing Jian, 33, in July 2024.
He admitted to smuggling in the fungus so he could conduct research on it at a University of Michigan laboratory where his girlfriend worked, according to the complaint.
He has been sent back to China and she is due to appear for a bail hearing.
The university said there are no projects Jian has been working on that are funded by China. Both conducted research in China on the toxin.
