People around the country have been getting strange seeds in small packages marked saying they're from China.
Extension
Mailboxes.
One woman in saltillo said she got a pack of them at her home address.
W-t-v-a's bronson woodruff tells us what people should do if they get a pack of mystery seeds.
Std."
It seems like a surprise gift ..
Seeds that will grow a surprise plant.
However, the problem is we don't know what plants they'll grow into.
Take pkg: "i received them saturday."
Seeds mysteriously showed up in dawn ihles mailbox.
She said they appeared to be from china.
"when you opened it, it was just a pack of seeds.
There wasn't any indication of what kind they were, or anything like that, so because of that, it kind of scared me."
"when you're looking at it, it has your name, but up at the right hand corner where it's supposed to be, you know, the return address, it's all in chinese."
She said hardly noticed the strange package at first.
"that's why it got lost in the mail, because it's just a little bitty packet, i mean about the size of your hand."
Dr. bill burdine of the mississippi state university extension service said the packages started appearing in mailboxes a couple weeks ago.
"these packages are being delivered through ups and fedex to homes all across the united states."
He said right now, mississippi department of agriculture does not know what all the types of seeds are yet.
They are asking people not to plant them or throw them away.
"do not do anything with the seeds other than call the mississippi department of agriculture or the local county extension office.
Bring those to our office, and we'll have an inspector pick them up."
Burdine said people need to be cautious.
"there is the potential this could be bioterrorism.
We don't think it is, but we need to rule that out first."
He said they believe it's a "brushing attempt", which is when a company sends an item to a receiver and posts fake positive reviews online on behalf of the customer.
Ihle said tomorrow, an inspector for lee county will come by and pick the seeds up off her porch.
She added she is waiting to hear back about what the seeds are.
"i was just concerned, i wanted to let my neighbors and my community know what to look for."
Reporter outro: according to their website, the u-s-d-a has identified fourteen types of the strange seeds as of july twenty-ninth.
Some of them include cabbage, morning glory, mint, sage, and hibiscus.
Reporting in saltillo, i'm bronson woodruff for w-t-v-a 9 news.
Remember you need to hold on to the packaging, seeds, and mailing label... you can also drop off the seeds now at any of the mississippi state university extension office across the state.
Seeds that are seemingly sent from China have been popping up all over the United States. Even in the Wabash Valley.