August 1, 2003
From: EPPO Reporting Service 2003, No. 5 [edited]

Potato spindle tuber pospiviroid is no longer found in Australia

Potato spindle tuber pospiviroid (PSTVd - EPPO A2 quarantine pest) had been detected previously in potato breeding programmes in Victoria and New South Wales in 1982 and eradicated. Subsequently, it was detected and eradicated in breeding tomatoes in Northern Territory and at a third property in
Western Australia. In June 2001 it was found in glasshouse tomatoes in New South Wales (2 plants on one farm).

Surveys of glasshouse tomatoes were recently finalized in New South Wales. 500 000 tomato plants grown on 15 properties were surveyed over the last 12 months; no symptoms were observed. On the farm where the 2 infected plants had been found, monthly inspections failed to detect the disease.

It is considered that the outbreak in Western Australia has been eradicated and that PSTVd is no longer present in Australia.

The situation of PSTVd in Australia can be described as follows: Absent, reported in the past but no longer found.

Sources:

Potato spindle tuber, tomato - Australia (NSW) 1 & 2, ProMED postings of 2003-06-18 & 2003-06-20.
< http://www.promedmail.org > [see references below]

Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry - Australia Potato Spindle Tuber Viroid
< http://www.dpie.gov.au >

[PSTVd is notoriously difficult to eradicate from affected seed stock. It is a major pathogen of solanaceous crops, causing spindle tuber in potato and bunchy top in tomato. Crop losses can be extensive (up to 65 percent in potato and as much as 50 percent in tomato). It is widely distributed in parts of North and South America, Asia, and Oceania. More recently PSTVd has been reported in France (potato) and the Netherlands (tomato). Unfortunately, the disease is established in eastern Europe, including Poland, and others may follow. Disease management involves use of viroid-free seed, strict adherence to phytosanitation, and use of bleach to disinfest equipment, tools, and production benches.

Additional reference: < http://www.defra.gov.uk/planth/pestnote/pstv.htm > - Mod.DH]