Situation of tomato yellow leaf curl geminivirus in USA
In July 1997, tomato yellow leaf curl geminivirus (EPPO A2 quarantine pest) was identified for the first time, in Florida (US), on a tomato plant (EPPO RS 97/169). Further studies showed that infected plants were present in two nurseries located in Homestead area (Dade county). The first report of the virus in commercial tomato fields came from Virginia. The tomato plants had been produced in a screenhouse in Manatee county (Florida). Infected plants were also found at low incidence in the following counties: Collier, St. Lucie, Palm Beach, Manatee, Hillsborough, and Dade (central and southern Florida). The incidence of tomato yellow leaf curl geminivirus ;has remained low in all commercial fields except those in Dade and Palm Beach counties. Growers used imidacloprid at transplantation in almost all fields against the insect vector Bemisia tabaci (EPPO A2 quarantine pest) and plants showing symptoms were eliminated. As a result, few infected plants were found at the end of the season in most counties of Florida.
Sources
Tomato yellow leaf curl virus – USA (Florida) by Dr Jane E. Polston.
ProMED-mail post of 1998-05-18.
Promed@usa.healthnet.org