And meteors, and murder hornets, and rip current, and sun flares, and cholesterol, and lightnings, tornados, straight-line wind, fast food, microwaves... and ... and ...
"Every man dies. Not every man really lives" - William Wallace
...and gubmint. hell yeah, let's go rob a bank. you in?
Puccinia and other crop diseases have historically led to a lot more human deaths than any of those other things put together.
One can do both. Even an uneducated poor grunt like me can simultaneously worry about novel diseases and the countless corrupt machinations at play the world over.