Phantom disease agents of fruit crops and rose
In a similar approach to a previous review of citrus diseases (EPPO RS 2023/259) a collaborative work by over 180 researchers from over 40 countries identified 120 phantom agents originally reported from ten key plant genera (Citrus, Cydonia, Fragaria, Malus, Prunus, Pyrus, Ribes, Rosa, Rubus, Vitis) that should no longer be listed in regulatory lists.
In the EPPO Global Database (GD), when a disease agent has been identified, this has gradually been reflected in the database (i.e. diseases have been assigned to their causal agents). However, when analyzing the list provided by Tzanetakis et al. (2025), the EPPO Secretariat noted that the following diseases still had an entry in GD. As a consequence, these diseases will be either removed (e.g. Grapevine enation agent) from the database, or reassigned to their associated pathogens (e.g. Pear corky pit agent will be assigned to Foveavirus mali). All obsolete EPPO Codes will be deactivated. Pests listed on the EPPO lists (raspberry leaf curl virus and strawberry latent C virus) will be reviewed by the EPPO Panel on Phytosanitary Measures
In addition, the table mentions when the agents were listed in lists of regulated pests available in GD. It may be noted that the status of a number of regulated pests are being reviewed in the framework of the EU Project on Regulated Non-Quarantine Pests (https://www.eppo.int/RESOURCES/special_projects/rnqp_II_project ).
Agents/Diseases to be removed from EPPO Global Database
Agent/disease name | EPPO Code | Regulated in |
Apple bumpy fruit of Ben Davis | EU, CH, GB | |
Apple ringspot agent | APRS00 | AR, CA, MX, US |
Apple rosette agent | APR000 | CA |
Apple russet wart | EU, CH, GB | |
Apple star crack agent | APHW00 | EU, CH, GB |
Apricot chlorotic leaf mottle agent | ABCLM0 | |
Apricot Moorpark mottle agent | ABMMO0 | |
Apricot pucker leaf agent | ABPL00 | |
Aucuba mosaic | EU, CH, GB | |
Blackcurrant yellows | EU, CH, GB | |
Cherry black canker agent | CRBC00 | |
Cherry pink fruit agent | CRPF00 | CA |
Cherry rough fruit agent | CRRF00 | CA |
Cherry rusty spot agent | CRRS00 | |
Cherry short stem agent | CRSS00 | CA |
Cherry spur cherry agent | CRSC00 | CA |
Grapevine bushy stunt agent | GVBS00 | |
Grapevine enation agent | GVE000 | AR, CA, MX |
Grapevine little leaf agent | GVLL00 | US |
Grapevine summer mottle agent | GVSM00 | |
Peach enation virus | PEV000 | |
Peach oil blotch disease | PCOB00 | |
Peach seedling chlorosis disease | PCSC00 | |
Peach star mosaic disease | PCSM00 | |
Peach yellow mottle disease | PCYMO0 | |
Pear bark split agent | PRBS00 | EU, CH, GB |
Pear freckle pit agent | PRFP00 | |
Pear rough bark agent | PRRB00 | EU, CA, CH, GB |
Raspberry leaf curl virus | RLCV00 | EPPO A1 + many countries |
Raspberry yellow spot agent | RYS000 | EU, CH, GB |
Rose streak virus | EG | |
Rose wilt agent (synonym of rose stunt) | ROW000 | Formerly EPPO list; EG, JO, MX, US, UZ |
Strawberry latent C virus | STLCV0 | EPPO A1 + many countries |
Strawberry necrosis agent | SYN000 | EU |
Agents/diseases to be associated with confirmed pathogens
Agent/disease name | EPPO Code of the agent | Confirmed pathogen |
Apple rubbery wood agent | ARW000 | Rubodvirus mali Rubodvirus prosserense |
Apple flat limb agent | AFL000 | Rubodvirus mali Rubodvirus prosserense |
Peach wart agent | PCW000 | Trichovirus maculavii |
Pear corky pit agent | PRCP00 | Foveavirus mali |
Wineberry latent virus | WLV000 | Allexivirus epsilonrubi |
Sources
Tzanetakis IE, et al. (2025) Streamlining global germplasm exchange: integrating scientific rigor and common sense to exclude phantom agents from regulation. Plant disease 109(4), 736-755. https://doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-04-24-0745-FE