On Wednesday, the FBI charged two Chinese nationals with smuggling a crop-killing fungus into the United States. Dr. Robert Redfield, former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told Newsmax on Thursday that the actions by the two scientists are troubling because biosecurity “is one of our greatest national security threats.”

“[Fusarium graminearum] is a fungus that attacks wheat, barley, maize, and rice and actually can destroy crops. And in 2000, we had about $2.7 billion worth of crops that were destroyed,” Redfield said during an appearance on Newsmax’s “Wake Up America.”

“And the other problem with this fungus is that if animals eat it, it produces toxins. And those toxins can cause vomiting, they can cause liver disease, or actually it can cause reproductive defects. They can do the same thing in humans. So, it’s a significant issue. And we need to have aggressive surveillance.”

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