Millions of people face starvation following an outbreak of a new strain of wheat fungus in Africa and Asia, scientists say. This deadly strain of crop disease, known as black stem rust, can destroy entire fields of wheat. According to international agriculture expert and Nobel Prize winner Norman Borlaug, “This thing has immense potential for social and human destruction.”

Black stem rust has already laid waste to wheat harvests in Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia—though it hasn’t yet contributed to major food or social problems in these countries because wheat isn’t a staple crop for most of East Africa.

Unfortunately for the rest of the world, however, the fungus can spread easily. Wind carries the spores over long distances, and researchers report that the spores have blown across the Red Sea into the Arabian Peninsula and infected wheat fields in Yemen. Experts believe the spores will continue to spread into the Middle East, Pakistan and India, destroying a major source of food for more than a billion people.

Some observers warn that by the end of this year the wheat fungus could reach Egypt, which depends heavily on wheat. Rick Ward, coordinator of the Global Rust Initiative, fears that if new rust-resistant wheat varieties aren’t developed soon, then devastating losses of wheat production in places like Egypt will “trigger all sorts of destabilizing effects, ones that could have profound implications for the West.”

UN director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization says the wheat fungus has potential to cause a global crop epidemic, leading to “increased wheat prices and local or regional food shortages.”

Black stem rust has plagued crop fields throughout the centuries, causing destruction of biblical proportions. Rick Ward stated, “The Bible talks about plagues afflicting crops and these are almost certainly references to stem rust.” In the past, every few years one of these outbreaks would wipe out entire harvests, transforming ripening wheat into a mass of blackened vegetation, and spreading throughout continents in a matter of months.

Scientists developed resistant varieties of wheat during the 1960s, causing the wheat fungus to disappear from most farms. But the new strain of fungus, known as Ug99, is resistant to the defensive measures. Up to 80 percent of all wheat varieties planted in Asia and Africa are susceptible to Ug99.

Bible prophecy tells us the world will soon be afflicted by worldwide famine. Although scientists are capable of breeding disease-resistant crops, Ug99 proves that the world is not immune to crop epidemics. There is only one sure way to prevent the destruction that these epidemics are destined to create. To find out what that 100 percent reliable countermeasure is, and to learn more about the prophesied worldwide famine and food shortages, read our booklet The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.