Country: United States

Title: Detection of gladiolus rust, Uromyces transversalis (Thum.), in Manatee County, Florida - United States

Contact:
Dr. Anwar Rizvi, Gladiolus Rust National Program Manager, (301) 734-4313

Report: On April 30, 2010, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) issued an Emergency Action Notification (EAN) for a commercial gladiolus farm in Manatee County, Florida, following the detection and confirmation of gladiolus rust (GR) on April 28. In order to mitigate the spread of GR, the EAN establishes specific requirements for continued production and interstate movement of gladiolus stems from the affected area.

GR was previously detected at the same commercial farm in April 2006. Since then, APHIS and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DOACS) Division of Plant Industry (DPI), have worked together on an eradication program that includes intense surveillance at this farm. After two production seasons where GR was not detected, APHIS declared GR eradicated from Manatee County in the summer of 2009.

To prevent the further spread of the disease, all host articles including corms, stems, flowers, and leaves of gladiolus plants are restricted from moving interstate from the affected farm. Interstate movement will be permitted only if gladiolus plant material is free of GR symptoms or, if harvested from fields known to have GR, the stems and leaves must be dipped in the fungicide Phyton 27®. Disinfection requirements for personnel and equipment as well as other measures are in place to control infection levels in the field. These include the removal and destruction of infected plants and all adjacent plants within a 2-meter radius and the treatment of all GR- host material on the premise with an appropriate and efficacious spraying regime including both preventative and curative fungicides.

GR is a plant disease of quarantine significance in Europe and the United States and can infect members of the plant family Iridaceae, including Gladiolus, Tritonia, Crocosmia, and Watsonia spp. Domestically, the rust has been detected in California and Florida and programs are in place in each State to contain the disease.

Under IPPC standards, Uromyces transversalis is considered to be a quarantine pest that is present and under eradication in the United States.
 

Posted Date: May 5, 2010, 9 a.m.