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POTATO WILT, BACTERIAL (BROWN ROT) - BELGIUM
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A ProMED-mail post
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[see also:
1999
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Potato & tomato diseases - Europe 19990524223112]
Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 21:12:33 -0700
From: Dick Hamilton <rihamilto@home.com>
Source: EPPO Report No. 4, NPPO of Belgium, 2000-03
2000/055 _Ralstonia solanacearum_ found again in Belgium (edited by DH)
_Ralstonia solanacearum_ (EPPO A2 quarantine pest) had been found in a
limited area in Belgium (see EPPO RS 96/002, 96/183, 97/111) for several
years but was successfully eradicated in 1998. Regular surveys continued
and in autumn 1999, _R. solanacearum_ was detected in a potato production
area in the north of the Province of Limburg, near Maaseik. The bacterium
was detected in 8 ware potato fields belonging to 4 growers (20.8 ha).
During the regular annual survey on brown rot in Noorderkempen (Provinces
of Antwerp and Limburg), _R. solanacearum_ was detected in 7 additional
ware potato fields belonging to 5 growers (36.6 ha), near Lommel. In
September 1999, the Dutch NPPO intercepted one consignment of ware potatoes
harvested from this area (see EPPO RS 2000/071). Unfortunately harvested
tubers from this potato field were transported to the Netherlands for
processing before the Belgian NPPO could examine them. The present outbreak
is probably due to irrigation with contaminated surface water during the
potato growing season. At the time of the first finding, 25 water samples
(out of 48 taken from a watercourse which was used to irrigate the infected
crops) were found to contain the pathogen. All water samples tested in
previous years were negative for presence of the pathogen. Strict
phytosanitary measures have been taken to prevent any further spread and to
eradicate R. solanacearum according to Council Directive 99/57/EC. In
particular, from 2000-02-14, use of surface water to irrigate potato,
tomato and aubergine crops is strictly prohibited. Studies are also being
carried on the possibilities for eradicating _Solanum dulcamara_ from
watercourse banks.
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ProMED-mail
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[A great deal of attention is being paid to surveys in the EPPO region for
_R. solanacearum_ (EPPO A2 quarantine pest), the causal organism of
bacterial wilt of potato or potato brown rot. Surveys by NPPOs in Europe
within the last decade indicate that _R. solanacearum_ had been detected in
five countries; Belgium, France, Netherlands, Portugal, and England. The
outbreak in Belgium in 1989-91 was associated with surface waters
contaminated with the pathogen. _Solanum dulcamara_, a solanaceous weed
which grows along waterways, was shown to be a host of the pathogen. Waste
from potato-processing plants appears to be a source of the pathogen and,
once introduced into waterways, can infect S. dulcamara. Outbreaks in
France occurred in tomato and aubergine (egg plant) crops in areas where
potatoes were not grown, although an infected _S. dulcamara_ was detected
in one area. Importation of infected ware potatoes into the Netherlands
was suggested as the source for the outbreak in potato fields in that
country. An outbreak in a tomato glasshouse was associated with
contaminated surface water near a potato-processing plant and also with the
presence of infected _S. dulcamara_ along waterways. Similarly,
importation into Portugal of infected seed potatoes from the Netherlands
appeared to be responsible for an outbreak in 1995. In England, _R.
solanacearum_ was detected in a potato field in Oxfordshire in 1992 and
also near Slough in 1995. Again, the pathogen could be recovered from
infected _S. dulcamara_ along waterways used to irrigate potato crops.
The 1996 (see Situation of _Ralstonia solanacearum_ in the EPPO region
[latest update] in EPPO Report 1997-06 ) indicates that _R. solanacearum_
was reported not to be present in the following EPPO countries: Austria,
Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland,
Germany, Guernsey, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jersey, Latvia, Malta,
Morocco, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland,
Tunisia, Turkey, and Ukraine. No data were obtained from Albania, Greece,
Luxembourg, Russia, and Spain. The pathogen had been reported earlier in
Yugoslavia, and in view of reports that it is absent in Croatia and
Slovenia, the affected regions must be somewhere else in the former
Yugoslavia. In the EPPO region, there are reports that the pathogen has
been found in Armenia, Belarus (unconfirmed), Egypt, Georgia, Lebanon,
Libya, and Moldova.
I have concentrated on the last decade in my comments. In some instances,
the pathogen was reported years ago, but not since, and in these instances,
the countries concerned are considered free of the pathogen, but that may
be an unreliable assumption. Information on the methodology of testing for
the pathogen was not generally provided in the survey. I assume that
standardized tests were used. Do any of our subscribers have information
on this point? - Mod.DH]
......................................dh/es
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