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After the pattern of recent covert communist Chinese infiltrations of the U.S. continued with the arrest of two suspected "bioterrorists" in Michigan this week, one expert said it's time to sever relations with China completely. "The only way to stop this is to sever relations with China," attorney and Chinese Communist Party expert Gordon Chang told Fox News Digital. "And I know people think that's drastic, but we are being overwhelmed, and we are going to get hit. And we are going to get hit really hard. Not just with COVID, not just with fentanyl, but perhaps with something worse."...

A Chinese national couple was hit with criminal charges Tuesday for allegedly smuggling a dangerous fungus into the US capable of destroying crops and poisoning humans and livestock. Zunyong Liu, 34, was caught by US Customs and Border Protection officers attempting to smuggle Fusarium graminearum – a biological pathogen considered to be “a potential agroterrorism weapon” – into the US via the Detroit Metropolitan Airport last July, according to a criminal complaint filed in a federal court in the Eastern District of Michigan. Liu initially made false statements about his visit to the US and his knowledge of the pathogen...

Two Chinese nationals have been charged with allegedly smuggling into the U.S. a fungus called "Fusarium graminearum, which scientific literature classifies as a potential agroterrorism weapon," the Justice Department said Tuesday. Yunqing Jian, 33, and Zunyong Liu, 34, citizens of the People’s Republic of China, were allegedly receiving Chinese government funding for their research, some of which at the University of Michigan, the Justice Department said.

A drug-resistant fungus is on the rise in American hospitals, targeting patients who already reeling from illness. New cases have been identified in Georgia and Florida hospitals... Candida auris has been in the U.S. since 2016, but cases have increased annually through 2023, the most recent year for which the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have data. ... We’ve had four people at one time on and off, over the past few months, and in years past, it was unusual to have one or even two people with Candida Auris in our hospital,” Dr. Timothy Connelly at Memorial...

Candida auris, also called C. auris, was first identified in the U.S. in 2016. Since then, the number of cases have increased every year, jumping substantially in 2023 (the last year of data available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Recently, cases have proliferated in Georgia, the state’s health department told local news outlet WJCL. A study published this week, which focused on the Jackson Health System in Miami also found cases of the fungus have “rapidly increased.” ... People with a healthy immune system may be able to fight off infection on their own, but Candida auris...

A new fungus that infects cave spiders and turns them into "zombies" was discovered in a Victorian gunpowder store at Castle Espie in Northern Ireland during filming for a TV show. The zombie-spider fungus (Gibellula attenboroughii) infects spiders while they're still alive. (Image credit: Tim Fogg) Scientists have discovered a never-before-seen mind-controlling fungus that creates spider "zombies" after it was stumbled upon in a Victorian gunpowder store on the grounds of a destroyed Irish castle. The fluffy white fungus, similar to the zombie-ant fungus that inspired the "The Last of Us" video game and TV series, likely uses chemical signals...

A fungus causing powdery mildew in blueberries has spread from the U.S. to continents like Europe and Asia, threatening crops and increasing fungicide dependence. NC State researchers found that blueberry powdery mildew has spread globally in two strains, costing the industry up to $530 million annually. A new tool now helps farmers identify and manage the disease. A new study from North Carolina State University has traced the global spread of a fungus that causes powdery mildew in blueberry plants—a disease that lowers crop yields and increases reliance on fungicides. These findings could help blueberry growers better predict, monitor, and...

Two men from New York died from pneumonia they contracted from bat feces — after they used the excrement as fertilizer to grow marijuana, a new study found. The unidentified men from Rochester, ages 64 and 59, smoked pot that had been tainted with a fungus found in the bat droppings, known as guano, that caused fatal lung infections, according to a study published in Open Forum Infectious Disease earlier this month. Their deaths were not connected to each other, which the researchers said highlights a growing trend of using bat waste to produce marijuana since the drug has been...

Claviceps spp. Members of the genus Claviceps infect more than 600 plant species, including sedges, rushes, and grasses. Important host plants for Claviceps purpurea include rye, triticale, barley, oats, wheat, millet, Kentucky bluegrass, and brome, orchard, timothy, and quack grasses. In terms of food safety, infection of grains with Claviceps purpurea is of greatest concern, although Claviceps africana found in sorghum and Claviceps fusiformis in pearl millet also need to be considered. Claviceps cyperi, found on the weed yellow nut sedge in South Africa, has caused ergot alkaloid toxicosis in dairy cattle. Claviceps paspali grows on grasses of the Paspalum...

Opioids, like morphine, are effective painkillers but have led to widespread addiction and serious side effects like respiratory depression, notably seen in the U.S. opioid crisis that claimed nearly 645,000 lives from 1999 to 2021. Researchers at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz have identified a potential alternative, aniquinazolin B, from the marine fungus Aspergillus nidulans, which binds to opioid receptors and could replace opioids with fewer undesirable effects, after rigorous testing including over 750,000 calculations per substance using the MOGON supercomputer. Researchers at Mainz University have discovered a natural compound that could potentially serve as a long-term alternative to opioids and...

Granted, huitlacoche may look horrible. After all, it's a fungus that grows on corn. It's also known as Mexican truffles, corn mushrooms or “corn smut.” Wyoming chef Petrina Peart says the $50 per pound delicacy is hard to get but fun to try. (Cowboy State Daily Staff) Call them Mexican truffles, corn mushrooms or, if you’re a farmer, the much less appealing “corn smut.” Whatever you call this funky-looking fungus that grows on ears of corn, huitlacoche (pronounced wheat-la-KOH-chay) is a delicious, prized ingredient across Mexico that’s been catching on with gourmet chefs around the world. In Wyoming it’s much...

Researchers have found that the marine fungus Parengyodontium album can break down polyethylene in the ocean when exposed to UV light, suggesting the presence of more plastic-degrading fungi in deeper waters. A plastic particle (red) is colonized by the marine fungus Parengyodontium album. Credit: Annika Vaksmaa/NIOZ Researchers found that the fungus Parengyodontium album degrades UV-exposed polyethylene in the ocean, suggesting that similar fungi might also break down plastics in deeper waters. Researchers, including those from NIOZ, have discovered that a marine fungus can decompose the plastic polyethylene after it has been exposed to UV radiation from sunlight. Their findings, published...

A rapid rise in reports from around the world of a deadly fungal infection is sounding alarm bells about the dangers of drug resistant diseases. First discovered in Japan in 2009, Candida auris is a type of yeast that can cause severe illness and spreads easily in healthcare facilities. Cases proliferated during the Covid-19 pandemic. Widespread infections in the United States led the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to label it an “urgent threat”. More recently, scientists in China called for closer monitoring of the potentially fatal fungus after a study found that almost all of the cases...

An IDF fighter who was seriously injured two weeks ago died on Tuesday after being infected by a dangerous fungus found in the soil of the Gaza Strip, Reshet Bet Radio reported. The fungus has infected ten other fighters. The deceased fighter arrived with serious injuries to his limbs at Asuta Hospital in Ashdod, where they identified that he had been infected with treatment-resistant fungi. The doctors tried every possible treatment, including experimental treatments from abroad, and brought in every specialist they could, but in the end, the fungus invaded vital organs in the soldier’s body and he died. Professor...

Morel mushrooms Public health officials have signed off on an outbreak investigation in Montana saying that morel mushrooms were most likely what made dozens of people sick and killed two. In addition to the two deaths, the outbreak traced to Dave’s Sushi in Bozeman, MT, sickened more than 50 people and sent three to hospitals. People became ill between March 28 and April 17 this year, according to the Gallatin City-County Health Department. The local department worked with the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as well as the U.S. Centers...

Cases of Candida auris doubled in 2021, according to a new CDC report. A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed the fungus Candida auris is spreading rapidly through U.S. health care facilities. Also known as C. auris, reports of cases linked to the drug-resistant fungus have doubled in 2021. In addition, the fungus is behind an outbreak in Mississippi that began in November, infecting at least 12 people and potentially responsible for about four deaths, according to figures provided by the state Department of Health to ABC News. Although C. auris does not present a...

Doctors have reported the first U.S. cases of ringworm caused by an emerging and highly drug-resistant fungus. Super-ringworm is on the loose in New York City. In a report this week, doctors and health officials have detailed the first known U.S. cases of the itchy infection caused by a contagious and emerging fungal germ—one highly resistant to many existing drugs. The fungus was first identified in South Asia, but it’s possible that it’s now circulating locally in the area.… … while ringworm can be very contagious through direct contact, it’s usually mild and treatable with over-the-counter antifungals. But a newly...

The smash television zombie show The Last of Us was too close for comfort for food scientist Sarah Gurr. While the apocalyptic HBO drama focussed on fungal infections turning mankind into crazed zombies, the more pressing threat is how they ravage what we eat, she says. The University of Exeter expert warns of a 'devastating' impact on wheat, rice, corn, soy beans, potatoes and other crops that keep the planet's 8 billion people alive. Dangerous fungi are spreading north as the planet heats up, and the fungicides farmers use against them are getting less effective as they adapt to resist...

(Last Updated On: May 1, 2023) NATIONAL TRUFFLE DAY National Truffle Day on May 2 serves up a deliciously sweet treat and places the chocolate truffle in the spotlight. #NATIONALTRUFFLEDAY N. Petruccelli of Chambery, France is believed to be the inventor of the chocolate truffle in December 1895. Truffles became much more prevalent in 1902 after the Prestat Chocolate Shop opened in London. In fact, Prestat still sells “Napoleon III” truffles made to the original recipe. Traditionally, chocolatiers make this sweet confection with a chocolate ganache center coated in chocolate, icing, cocoa powder, chopped nuts, or coconut. Oftentimes, they may...

The doomsday emo-dolts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) hit the pause button on their Joy Division cassette tape long enough to warn us of a mysterious new fungus that can be deadly to people who contract it. It’s called Candida auris, aka C. auris.Fast Fungus FactsThe fungal disease is quite rare.It’s easily spread by person-to-person contact and can also be picked up from contaminated surfaces.In rare cases, the fungus can spread to an infected person’s brain, heart, blood, eyes, and bones, and kill them.Got that? The rare fungus can, in rare cases, kill people.Related: Big Brother...