First plum pox turns up in North America

The first North American outbreak of a dreaded fruit-tree virus has prompted calls for emergency action to control the disease.

Additional information about the plum pox can be found at the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s Web site at http://www.state.pa.us/PA_Exec/Agriculture/plum_pox/plum_pox_contacts.html and at the USDA’s Web site at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/oa/plumpox/index.html.

Gary Clement
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
1 Credit Union Place, Ste. 310
Harrisburg, PA 17110

Vern D. Damsteegt
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Agricultural Research Service
Foreign disease-Weed Science Research Unit
1301 Ditto Avenue
Fort Detrick, MD 21702

Jerry Frecon
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
1200 North Delsea
Clayton, NJ 08312

John Halbrendt
Pennsylvania State University
Department of Plant Pathology
College of Agricultural Sciences
0229 Agricultural Administrative Building
University Park, PA 16802

Laurene Levy
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
Agricultural Research Center
Beltsville, MD 20705

Ruth Welliver
Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture
2301 North Cameron Street
Harrisburg, PA 17110-9408

From Science News, Vol. 156, No. 21, November 20, 1999, p. 325. Copyright © 1999, Science Service.