Jun 11, 2020

APHIS declares elimination of Ralstonia solancearum incidents

The United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and its State partners have successfully completed actions to eliminate Ralstonia solanacearum race 3 biovar 2 from U.S. greenhouses.

The June 11 announcement comes just two months after the pathogen was first detected in a Michigan greenhouse in April. In total, the response involved more than 650 facilities in 44 States.

R. solanacearum race 3 biovar 2 can cause a wilt disease in several important agricultural crops such as potatoes, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant. This was the first confirmed case of this pathogen in U.S. greenhouses since 2004.

“APHIS continues to strengthen overseas safeguards, improve diagnostics, increase treatment options, and continually assess pathways to better protect American agriculture from this and other high-consequence plant pests and diseases,” a news release stated.