3 February 2017, Rome--- According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization an aggressive new strain of wheat rust is making further advances in Europe, Africa and Asia. Northern and Eastern Africa, the Near East, and West, Central and South Asia – which are all vulnerable to rust diseases − account for some 37 percent of global wheat production. Wheat rust is a family of fungal diseases that can cause crop losses of up to 100 percent in untreated susceptible wheat. Wheat is a source of food and livelihoods for over 1 billion people in developing countries, says the food agency.