EFSA issues urgent advice on plant bacteria Xylella fastidiosa

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) concluded, in November 2013, that focusing on the trade of plants intended for planting and on the presence of infective insects in plant consignments would be the most effective ways of limiting the spread of the bacteria Xylella fastidiosa that has recently been detected in Southern Italy, the first outbreak of its kind in the European Union.

Transmitted by certain types of sap-sucking hopper insects, the bacteria Xylell fastidiosa, has been identified in the current disease outbreak that has affected 8000 hectares of olive trees in the Puglia region of Southern Italy. The bacteria can be hosted in a very broad range of plants including almond, peach, plum, apricot, grapevines, citrus, coffee and olive as well as oak, elm, Ginkgo and sunflower. Importantly, plants can carry the bacteria without showing signs of disease. Xylell fastidiosa is regulated as a harmful organism in the European Union, whose introduction into, and spread within, all Member States is banned.

Wikepedia: Xylella fastidiosa http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylella_fastidiosa

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