In a stunning case that reads like a bioterror thriller, two Chinese nationals have been accused of smuggling a highly dangerous biological pathogen — a so-called “killer fungus” — into the United States. Federal authorities say the fungus could devastate America’s food supply and may have been part of a larger espionage scheme.
Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, both Chinese researchers who reportedly have ties to the Chinese Communist Party, are at the center of a brewing international scandal. U.S. officials have charged the duo with conspiring to transport Fusarium graminearum, a fungal pathogen so destructive that it’s listed in biodefense literature as a potential weapon of agroterrorism.
