EPPO Global Database

EPPO Reporting Service no. 05 - 2023 Num. article: 2023/103

New data on quarantine pests and pests of the EPPO Alert List


By searching through the literature, the EPPO Secretariat has extracted the following new data concerning quarantine pests and pests included (or formerly included) on the EPPO Alert List, and indicated in bold the situation of the pest concerned using the terms of ISPM 8.


  • New records

Pepino mosaic virus (Potexvirus, PepMV – EPPO A2 List) is reported for the first time from the Republic of Korea. PepMV was detected in 2020 in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants growing in a greenhouse in Jeolla province (Cho et al., 2023). Present.


Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (Begomovirus, ToLCNDV – EPPO A2 List) was first recorded causing significant damage in tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum) in Nepal (Gandaki and Bagmati provinces) in 2021 (Khadka et al., 2023). Present.


Tomato mild mottle virus (TomMMoV – EU Annexes) is reported for the first time from Iraq. During surveys conducted from September to October 2020, TomMMoV was detected in field and glasshouse aubergine (Solanum melongena) crops near Baghdad (Khaffajah et al., 2022).


Tomato mild mottle virus (TomMMoV – EU Annexes) is reported for the first time from Kenya. TomMMoV was detected in symptomatic leaf samples of tree tomato (Solanum betaceum) collected from the Eastern and Rift Valley regions. Phylogenetic analysis showed that Kenyan isolates were highly similar to an Ethiopian isolate (Kinoga et al., 2023).



  • Detailed records

In China, Cryphonectria parasitica (EPPO A2 List) is first reported from Gansu province on symptomatic Castanea seguinii. Gansu province was one of the few areas in China thought to be free of the disease. The specimens were found in the westernmost part of the natural distribution of chestnut trees in China (Ni et al., 2023).


In Mozambique, Fusarium wilt of banana caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense Tropical race 4 (EPPO Alert list) was first recorded in 2013. Tests of symptomatic banana plants in 2020 and 2021 from smallholder plantations and along roadsides showed that the pathogen was present in 13 locations, both close to, and up to 210 km away from the initial outbreaks (van Westerhoven et al., 2023).


In Finland, outbreaks of Leptinotarsa decemlineata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) have been reported by the NPPO during summer 2021. The pest has been found in 3 potato fields in the communes of Parikkala. Eradication measures have been taken. Surveys will be carried out during the next two potato-growing seasons to verify the absence of the pest.

The pest status of Leptinotarsa decemlineata in Finland is officially declared as: Present, under eradication.


Tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus (Begomovirus, ToLCNDV – EPPO A2 List) was first reported in China on tomato in August 2021 (EPPO RS 2022/243). It was recently reported on cucurbits. Zeng et al. (2023) reported the detection of ToLCNDV in August 2022, in melon (Cucumis melo), cucumber (Cucumis sativus) and luffa (Luffa aegyptiaca) in greenhouses in Shanghai. Gu et al. (2023) reported high damage caused by ToLCNDV in autumn 2022 in the provinces of Jiangsu, Shanghai, and Zhejiang, on muskmelon (Cucumis melo subsp. melo), oriental melon (Cucumis melo subsp. agrestis), pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata), luffa (Luffa acutangula), and squash (Cucurbita pepo). 


Tomato yellow leaf curl virus (Begomovirus, TYLCV - EPPO A2 List) is first reported from Oklahoma (US). It was detected in 2021 on tomato and Capsicum (Paslay et al., 2023).



  • Host plants

The root-knot nematode Meloidogyne enterolobii (EPPO A2 List) is recorded for the first time on plantain (Musa spp. AAB), on which it was found in Nigeria (Olajide et al., 2023).


Sources

Cho IS, Chung BN, Yoon JY, Hammond J, Lim HS (2023) First report of pepino mosaic virus infecting tomato in South Korea. Plant Disease 107(3), 971. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-02-22-0380-PDN

Gu Q, Yan L, Liu L, Bao W, Fang H, Xu J, Li J, Kang B, Wu H, Wang K, Tao X (2023) First report of tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus infecting several cucurbit plants in China. Plant Disease (early view). https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-01-23-0059-PDN

Khadka RB, Dabargainya B, Pokhrel S, Parajuli A, Paudel B, Upadhyaya S, Poudel R, Baidya S (2023) First report of tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus in tomato in Nepal. New Disease Reports 47(2), e12170. https://doi.org/10.1002/ndr2.12170.

Khaffajah B, Alisawi O, Al Fadhl F (2022) Genome sequencing of eggplant reveals Eggplant mild leaf mottle virus existence with associated two endogenous viruses in diseased eggplant in Iraq. Archives of Phytopathology and Plant Protection 55(16), 1930-1943.

Kinoga MN, Kuria PK, Miano DW, Kiambi RG, Mollov DS, Grindstead, Wasilwa LA (2023) Genome characterisation of two complete coding sequences of tomato mild mottle virus from tree tomato and their distribution in Kenya. Journal of Plant Pathology 105, 15–19.

Ni C, Liu Y, Liu Y, Li H, Shi M, Zhang M, Han B (2023) First report of chestnut blight caused by Cryphonectria parasitica on chestnut (Castanea seguinii) in Gansu Province, China. Plant Disease 107(3), 942. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-03-22-0556-PDN

NPPO of Finland (2023-05).

Olajide EO, Kolombia Y, Amah D, Couvreur M, Swennen R, Coyne DL, Cortada L, Bert W (2023) First report of the root-knot nematode Meloidogyne enterolobii parasitizing plantain (Musa spp., AAB) in Nigeria. Plant Disease 107(3), 970. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-06-22-1350-SC

Paslay C, Ali A (2023) First report of tomato yellow leaf curl virus infecting pepper and tomato in Oklahoma. Plant Disease 107(3), 973. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-04-22-0927-PDN

van Westerhoven AC, Meijer HJ, Houdijk J, Martínez de la Parte E, Matabuana EL, Seidl MF, Kema GH (2023) Dissemination of Fusarium wilt of banana in Mozambique caused by Fusarium odoratissimum Tropical Race 4. Plant Disease 107(3), 628-632. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-07-22-1576-SC

Zeng R, Gu H, Fan J, Zhu P, Xu L, Gao SG, Gao P, Song Z, Zhang K, Zhang C, Dai F (2023) Occurrence of tomato leaf curl New Delhi virus in cucurbit plants in China. Plant Disease (early view). https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-01-23-0059-PDN