The Fusarium graminearum Smuggling Case: What Are the Implications?

Read about the incident in this briefing and this news article.

Here are some facts about this pathogen:

• Fusarium graminearum causes Fusarium head blight of major grains, especially wheat and barley, and causes stalk rot in corn.
• The plant disease is mediated through two common fusarial mycotoxins: deoxynivalenol and zearalenone.
• Deoxynivalenol is a potent trichothecene hepatotoxin and protein synthesis inhibitor.
• Zearalenone is an estrogenic mimetic.
• A massive outbreak of Fusarium graminearum occurred in the North Central US, resulting in more than one billion dollars of crop loss.
• Fusarium graminearum rarely causes human infection.

For additional reading,

Review of fusarial mycotoxins

Article on the top 10 fungal pathogens in molecular plant pathology

Case report of Fusarium graminearum in a patient with ALL and febrile neutropenia