Some time ago, I did a blog on the risk posed by Ug99, a wheat rust disease, to the globe’s wheat supplies. It is time to pass on to readers of this blog that this very dangerous wheat rust has leaped from Northeast Africa and the Mideast to the nation of South Africa, meaning that this virulent wheat disease is now present in both the northern and southern hemispheres and it is spreading. That this wheat rust leaped from northern to southern Africa means that it can spread very quickly over a large distance in a short time. My thanks to a reader for letting me know about the spread of Ug99 to South Africa.
The nations that have been affected so far are Uganda (where it was first found), Syria, Turkey, Iraq , Iran, Lebanon and now South Africa. The first link below offers an in-depth examination of this plant disease which was actually present in ancient times but was thought to have been eradicated in modern times. The second link adds more information and warns that its presence in South Africa means it could leap to Australia via the wind patterns across the Indian Ocean. The third link includes photos of what the wheat rust disease looks like on plants and what infected fields in Syria look like from the air. The nations affected most so far by this virulent wheat rust are Syria and Turkey.
As I noted in my previous blog on this topic, the fact that Ug99 is located in Iran makes it possible that agro-terrorists from Iran could deliberately spread the Ug99 spores to the USA and other western nations via agents tasked to do the job. Is it so hard to foresee the danger that Iran, pressed tighter by western sanctions, might decide to retaliate by smuggling Ug99 spores into the wheat-producing regions of the western nations? How hard would it be for anti-American and anti-western Iran (or any terrorist group) to carry Ug99 wheat spores across the largely-unguarded US border with Mexico and unleash the spores in America’s wheat belt? Would any US Border Patrol personnel notice or intercept the spores if they were hidden in the cuffs of someone’s pants or other nondescript hiding places? These infectious wheat spores could likely be carried easily into the USA even at legal border crossings (or through airports) because no one would be looking for these infectious spores. The risk of Ug99 is a vital argument for tightening US border controls and inspections. I hope someone in the US Government is taking this threat seriously.
Both Matthew 24:7 and Revelation 6:5-6 prophesy that famines will be among the plagues unleashed on mankind in the latter days before the return of Jesus Christ/Yahshua. Revelation 6:6 specifically mentions wheat as one of the foodstuffs which will apparently be rationed by price in the latter days. There is a footnote in my King James Version of the Bible (the Open Bible Edition) which states that the prices cited in Revelation 6:6 would translate into a modern price for wheat of $41.80 a bushel and barley would cost $32.50 a bushel. I cannot vouch for the accuracy of that calculation, but I pass it on to readers for your information. The links below include a discussion of efforts to halt the spread of Ug99 from the globe’s primary wheat-producing regions, but if these efforts fail, Ug99 will spread relentlessly from nation to nation and will eventually endanger a large percentage of the globe’s wheat crops.
Map, text: http://www.economist.com/node/16481593?story_id=16481593&fsrc=rss
http://www.agrimoney.com/news/new-and-virulent-fungus-wrecks-middle-east-wheat–1829.html
http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/highlights/2010/06/Middle%
