Update of the situation of tomato brown rugose fruit virus in the USA
In the USA, tomato brown rugose fruit virus (Tobamovirus, ToBRFV – EPPO Alert List) was first detected in September 2018 in a tomato greenhouse in California (EPPO RS 2019/027) and declared eradicated. USDA-APHIS recently announced that they will conduct a survey in glasshouses producing tomatoes after the confirmation of several isolated detections of ToBRFV in commercial greenhouses during the winter 2019-2020. The location of these findings was not given. It may be noted that seed of Solanum pimpinellifolium from the USA have been recently intercepted in the United-Kingdom as they tested positive for ToBRFV (EPPO RS 2020/114). S. pimpinellifolium had not been recorded as a host plant so far.
Import requirements of tomato and pepper fruit to the USA were extended to fruit from the Dominican Republic after detection of ToBRFV in imported fruit. The EPPO Secretariat had no previous indication of the presence of ToBRFV in Dominican Republic.
The situation of Tomato brown rugose fruit virus in the USA can be described as: Present, few occurrences.
Sources
USDA-APHIS (2020-06-12) APHIS takes additional actions to safeguard US agriculture against Tomato brown rugose fruit virus. https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/newsroom/stakeholder-info/sa_by_date/sa-2020/sa-06/tobrfv-safeguards
USDA-APHIS (2020-06-03) APHIS amends Federal Order for US imports of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and pepper (Capsicum spp.) hosts of Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV). https://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/plants/plant_imports/federal_order/downloads/2020/DA-2020-12.pdf