New species added to the host list

Ten species have been added to the list of federally regulated P. ramorum associated host plants. The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) issued the on 2/22/10, adding Mexican-orange (Choisya ternate), kousa dogwood (Cornus kousa), Daphniphyllum glaucescens, European holly (Ilex aquifolium), Japanese-oak (Lithocarpus glaber), Magnolia cavalieri, Magnolia foveolata, bayleaf currant (Ribes laurifolium), bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus), and lingon berry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) to the list. Symptoms for each of the new hosts other than bilberry were leaf necrosis. Tip dieback occurs in infected bilberry as well as Daphniphyllum glaucescens These species were identified as susceptible by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the United Kingdom's Food and Environment Research Agency (FERA).
Nurseries currently operating under an APHIS P. ramorum compliance agreement are able to continue shipping hosts and associated plants, including the newly listed plants; however, any nurseries not currently under a compliance agreement that contain these new species must be properly inspected, sampled, tested, and placed under a Compliance Agreement by 3/31/10 in order to be able to move any plants interstate.

From the COMTF March newsletter

News from California and the rest of the US

Warm, wet weather caused by El Nino is a "free ticket to Disneyland" for P. ramorum in California, providing an environment in which the disease can spread:

http://www.napavalleyregister.com/lifestyles/home-and-garden/columnists/bill-pramuk/article_60416e9e-184e-11df-bfaf-001cc4c002e0.html

Researchers at University of North Carolina are developing a model to predict spread of P. ramorum if it were to get loose in the eastern US:

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local_state/story/314528.html

NA2 lineage found on salal, additional positive nurseries

As part of the perimeter survey conducted at a P. ramorum-positive retail nursery in Pierce County, Washington last summer, the Washington State Department of Agriculture identified infested salal (Gaultheria shallon) plants in the natural landscape (as reported in the COMTF August 2009 Newsletter). Follow-up analysis of the samples by the Chastagner lab at Washington State University has resulted in the isolation of the NA2 lineage from the salal. This is the first detection of the NA2 lineage on native forest vegetation. For more information on this development, contact Gary Chastagner at chastag@wsu.edu.

Washington had two P. ramorum-positive locations identified in January. Both sites have previously been found positive for the pathogen. One positive find was in retention pond water at a Pierce County retail nursery. Treatment of the pond (located on nursery property) is optional as it is not used for irrigation or fire suppression. The second site was in a Mason County church landscape where an assumed-positive Viburnum tinus was identified as part of a Thurston County nursery trace-forward investigation. Follow-up efforts have determined that the viburnum did not transit through the Thurston County nursery, but rather was sourced from Oregon. It is unknown where the plant potentially became infested. The Oregon nursery from which the plant originated completed the CNP in December (2009). WSDA PCR results on the viburnum were inconclusive; results are pending from Beltsville, MD.

From the February COMTF newsletter

Japanese larch and Western hemlock new hosts for P. ramorum in the UK

"Since August 2009, significant numbers of Japanese larch trees have begun to show symptoms of needle loss and dieback in Devon, Cornwall and Somerset. The number of trees affected, and the apparent speed of the decline is a cause for concern – some trees are already dead. Smaller numbers of broadleaf trees associated with the larch were found to have symptoms of bleeding cankers, and closer examination by Forest Research scientists revealed that these broadleaf trees were infected with Phytophthora ramorum. This is the fungus-like pathogen responsible for the phenomenon known as “sudden oak death” in the USA, where it has killed millions of trees including the native American tanoak. "

read more here

new song - Sudden Oak Death

Listen to Sudden Oak Death - Mountain Goats & John Vanderslice on Moon Colony Bloodbath for free on Grooveshark.

http://listen.grooveshark.com/#/song/Sudden_Oak_Death/22781967

'Oak death' affects medieval site

Trees and shrubs surrounding a medieval monument in Cardiff are to be removed and burned after a plant disease which can be deadly to trees was found.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/south_east/8377637.stm

California bans Curry County's Douglas Christmas trees

But Grand fir and Noble fir are ok?

Read the article here:
http://www.currypilot.com/20091128114288/News/Local-News/California-bans-Curry-Countys-Douglas-Christmas-trees