Two Chinese people have been charged and convicted of 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.

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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.

Zunyong Liu, 34, a researcher currently in China, pleaded guilty to charges of bringing the fungus to his girlfriend, Yunqing Jian, 33, in July 2024. He has

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