Published Date: 2003-11-20 23:50:00
Subject: PRO/PL> Clavibacter, potato - UK (England) (02)
Archive Number: 20031120.2875
CLAVIBACTER, POTATO - UK (ENGLAND) (02)
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A ProMED-mail post
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International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>
Date: 19 Nov 2003
From: ProMED-mail<promed@promedmail.org>
Source: @gWorldwide, 19 Nov 2003 via Reuters [edited]
UK widens controls to keep out potato disease
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Britain's farm ministry on Wednesday said it was widening controls aimed at
preventing an outbreak of a potentially devastating potato disease. The
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) stated that it
was extending precautionary action against potato ring rot to 3 new farms
known to have received seed potatoes of the same variety as those found to
be infected on a Welsh farm last week.
3 farms based in the southwest of England were already subject to
restrictions after being supplied with seed potatoes from the infected
Welsh farm. A DEFRA spokeswoman said one of the 3 new farms facing checks
was in the north of England, while the others were in the south.
"This new information merely means that we get the opportunity to make
checks -- it does not mean that the disease has spread," the DEFRA
spokeswoman said.
The bacterial pathogen, _Clavibacter michiganensis_ subsp. _sepedonicus_,
is widespread across Europe, having been identified in recent years in
France, the Netherlands, and Denmark. The disease affects only potato
yields and has no impact on human health.
British growers produced 5.8 million tonnes of potatoes in 2003, a 13
percent drop from the previous year, according to recent British Potato
Council data.
--
ProMED-mail
<promed@promedmail.org>
[Ring rot is an insidious disease and very difficult to manage. The fact
that it has been reported from Wales and from 2 widely separated loci in
England suggests that there are more cases in the offing. There appear to
be at least 2 sources of infected potatoes, because the potatoes in England
did not originate from the Dutch farm that supplied tubers to the grower in
Wales. - Mod.DH]