Michigan’s plum pox virus survey and restrictions
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EmailEditor’s note: This article is from the archives of the MSU Crop Advisory Team Alerts. Check the label of any pesticide referenced to ensure your use is included.
The
Michigan Department of Agriculture has been surveying for plum pox virus
(PPV) since 2000 as part of the Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey
(CAPS) program. CAPS is a combined effort by federal and state
agricultural organizations to survey, detect and monitor agricultural
crop pests and biological control agents. Survey for PPV was initiated
in response to the identification of PPV in Pennsylvania in October
1999. Since 2000, the MDA has conducted PPV surveys every summer
including a CAPS-funded survey in 2006.
In July 2006, plum pox virus was detected in a plum tree sampled at the Southwest
Michigan Research and Extension Center (SWMREC) in Benton Harbor,
Michigan. On August 11, the USDA laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland
confirmed that the sample was positive for the "D" strain of the plum
pox virus. MDA staff immediately began to sample 100 percent of the
non-cherry Prunus trees at SWMREC and will continue to identify and
survey all non-cherry Prunus trees within a radius of 5 miles of the
positive tree. The survey will include commercial orchards, homeowner
orchards, abandoned trees and landscape plants known to be susceptible
to this strain of PPV.
MDA's sampling effort will be supported by the USDA, Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service (APHIS) staff from the USDA's Plum Pox Survey
Office as well as USDA inspectors from throughout the United States.
It’s estimated that 150,000 trees will need to be sampled as part of
this delimiting survey. If an additional positive tree is found, the
survey will be adjusted accordingly to provide a 5-mile buffer around
each infected tree.
The USDA has issued Emergency Action Notifications (EAN’s) to all
landowners with commercial orchards identified within 1 mile of the
infected tree. Additional EAN’s will be issued to landowners with
PPV-susceptible plants. The EAN provides notice that a landowner may not
move propagative materials from PPV susceptible plants off of their
properties. The MDA will soon initiate a quarantine of the same
geographical area in accordance with Michigan’s laws. The restrictions
in the quarantine will parallel those issued in the EAN’s.
Neither the EAN nor the MDA quarantine will hinder the harvest and sale
of fruit in this area since PPV is not transmitted through the fruit or
the seed. The plum pox virus poses no human health risk.
