A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the International Society for Infectious Diseases <http://www.isid.org>

[1] Kenya (Rift Valley): stem rust, severe strains
[2] India (Punjab): stripe rust [3] Australia: stem and stripe rusts

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[1] Kenya (Rift Valley): stem rust, severe strains
Date: Tue 3 Mar 2009
Source: Voice of America (VOA) News [edited]
<http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-03-03-voa46.cfm>

Disease hits Kenyan crops
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Kenya, with nearly a quarter of its 38 million people facing severe hunger, is now reporting a rapid spread of diseases affecting the country's vital wheat and banana [see ProMED-mail post no.
20090311.1006] crops.

Recent reports from Kenya's breadbasket region of the Rift Valley have confirmed what the country can ill-afford -- the spread of a deadly strain of a parasitic fungus called stem rust that is threatening to wipe out the country's wheat fields.

Kenyan Agriculture Permanent Secretary Romano Kiome said, "It is a serious concern. Stem rust, of course, is controllable with chemicals, but it is damn expensive. The only solution is to bring in new varieties that are resistant to stem rust."

In Kenya, most of the fields affected by the stem rust strain belong to small-scale farmers, who grow 20 percent of the wheat consumed annually. Although maize is the staple among most Kenyans, wheat flour has grown crucial to the country's overall food supply, especially in the past year.

[Byline: Alisha Ryu]

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[2] India (Punjab): stripe rust
Date: Tue 10 Mar 2009
Source: New Kerala, United News of India (UNI) report [edited]
<http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-931.html>

Rising temps halt spread of yellow rust on wheat in Punjab
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As the wheat crop is at late dough stage and the climatic conditions, particularly increasing temperatures, are not favourable for the yellow rust development, the farmers need not spray any fungicide for the management of the disease at this stage.

Yellow rust of wheat had appeared in certain pockets of the state, particularly on wheat cultivar PBW-343. The disease started appearing in the 1st week of February [2009] in the district of Ropar, Fatehgarh Sahib, and Hoshiarpur. Subsequently, it started spreading to others area due to favourable conditions but the rising temperatures halted the further development and spread of the disease

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[3] Australia: stem and stripe rusts
Date: Wed 11 Mar 2009
Source: ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) Rural News [edited] <http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/200903/s2512921.htm>

Worries that winds could bring grain diseases to South Australia
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A plant pathologist says South Australian broadacre crops are at risk of both stem and stripe rust migrating from interstate.

Hugh Wallwork, from South Australia's Research and Development Institute [SARDI], says stem rust has been found in flood-affected northern New South Wales and in Esperance in Western Australia. He says bi-monthly winds from the east, as well as prevailing westerly winds, could carry the disease into South Australia.

"Although we have really no volunteer [wheat plants] probably harbouring stripe rust in South Australia, there is a particularly high risk of stripe rust surviving in northern New South Wales and that could form a threat to us in the coming season."

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[Wheat stem rust is caused by the fungus _Puccinia graminis_ f. sp. _tritici_. Overall yield losses of up to 70 percent are reported, but some fields are totally destroyed. New races are emerging, and the most dangerous at present is strain Ug99, which has overcome the major resistance gene used in our current wheat varieties. Ug99 is
spreading eastwards from its origin in Uganda and is now considered present in much of East Africa, Yemen, and Iran, and also suspected in some additional countries in the region. An even more virulent variant able to overcome additional resistance genes has recently emerged in Kenya. The stem rust reported in item [1] from Kenya is likely to be either Ug99 or the even more severe newer strain, but these strains are at this time not present in Australia (item [3]).

Stripe rust (also called yellow rust) of cereal crops is caused by the fungus _Puccinia striiformis_ var. _striiformis_. It causes yellow leaf stripes, stunting of plants, and reduces grain production with yield losses of 40 to 100 percent. It affects wheat, some barley varieties, triticale, and a number of grass species. New pathogen strains with increased virulence have been reported in recent years from wheat growing areas in Europe, North America, and Australia. In India, an outbreak of stripe rust has also recently been reported from Jammu and Kashmir (ProMED-mail post no. 20090305.0897)

For both fungi, spores are spread by wind and with infected straw, and some grasses or volunteer wheat may generate a "green bridge" providing inoculum for the next cropping season. Disease management includes the use of resistant varieties (if available), fungicide applications, and control of volunteer wheat. For more information on stripe rust, stem rust, and Ug99 please see previous ProMED-mail posts and links listed below.

Maps
Kenya:
<http://www.ogiek.org/photo-gallery/kenya-map-big.jpg>  and
<http://healthmap.org/r/006h>
Kenya provinces:
<http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/africa/kenya_pol88.jpg>
India:
<http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/india/images/IndiaMap_tourism.gif> 
and
<http://healthmap.org/r/006i>
Punjab:
<http://www.mapsofindia.com/maps/punjab/punjabroads.htm>
Australia:
<http://www.ga.gov.au/image_cache/GA4073.jpg>  and
<http://healthmap.org/promed/en?v=-25.7,134.5,4>

Pictures
Stem rust:
<http://www.cimmyt.org/english/wps/news/2005/sept/images/stem2.jpg>  and
<http://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/crops/diseases/images/fac15s01.jpg>
Stripe rust on wheat leaf:
<http://utextension.tennessee.edu/fieldCrops/wheat/Wheat_photos/Wheat_StripeRust.jpg> 
and
<http://www.grdc.com.au/uploads/images/Stripe%20rust%20Colin%20Wellings%20ACRCP.JPG>
Stripe rust on wheat head:
<http://cril.cimmyt.org/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=950&g2_serialNumber=2>

Links
Information on wheat stem rust:
<http://www.ars.usda.gov/Main/docs.htm?docid=9910>
Information on Ug99:
<http://www.cimmyt.cgiar.org/gis/pdf/UG99postH.pdf>,
<http://www.pestalert.org/viewNewsAlert.cfm?naid=36>  and
<http://www.agbioworld.org/newsletter_wm/index.php?caseid=archive&newsid=2686>
_P. graminis_ f.sp. _tritici_ taxonomy:
<http://www.indexfungorum.org/Names/NamesRecord.asp?RecordID=455607>
Global Rust Initiative:
<http://www.globalrust.org/>
Information on wheat stripe rust:
<http://pnw-ag.wsu.edu/smallgrains/Stripe%20Rust.html>,
<http://www.ars.usda.gov/Main/docs.htm?docid=9918&pf=1&cg_id=0>,
<http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/158964/stripe-rust-in-wheat.pdf>, 
and
<http://www.oznet.k-state.edu/path-ext/factSheets/Wheat/Wheat%20Stripe%20Rust.asp>
_P. striiformis_ taxonomy:
<http://www.indexfungorum.org/Names/NamesRecord.asp?RecordID=427989>
SARDI:
<http://www.sardi.sa.gov.au>.  - Mod.DHA]

[see also in the archive:
Rust diseases, wheat, mustard - India: (JK) 20090305.0897
Stripe rust, wheat - China 20090208.0579
2008
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Wheat stem rust Ug99 - Australia ex Ethiopia: interception 20081203.3807
Wheat stem rust, strain Ug99 - multicountry: update 20081120.3660
Stripe rust, wheat - Australia (02): (VIC) 20080916.2897
Stem rust, wheat - Australia: (WA) 20080905.2769
Stripe rust, wheat - Australia: (QLD, NSW), alert 20080716.2156
Wheat stripe rust, oilseed rape sclerotinia - China 20080408.1297
Wheat stem rust, strain Ug99 - Iran: 1st rep, alert 20080307.0925
Stripe rust, wheat - Denmark: new strains 20080211.0542
2007
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Wheat stem rust, strain Ug99 - Kenya: new variant 20071217.4054
Wheat stem rust, strain Ug99 - multistate: resistance screening 20071208.3957
Stripe rust, wheat - Australia (SA): new strain 20070921.3135
Stripe rust, wheat & wheat streak mosaic - Australia (SA, WA) 20070830.2860
Fungal diseases, wheat & pulses - Australia (SA) 20070821.2729
Ergot & stripe rust, cereals - USA (MT) 20070706.2144
Barley yellow dwarf virus & stem rust, cereals - Kenya 20070705.2132
Stripe rust, wheat - USA, Australia 20070614.1950
Wheat stem rust, strain Ug99 - Yemen (02): government response 20070430.1399
Wheat stem rust, spread: FAO, Global Rust Initiative 20070414.1241
Wheat stripe rust, wheat - China 20070413.1230
Wheat stem rust, strain Ug99 - Yemen: 1st report 20070117.0229
2006
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Wheat stem rust, strain Ug99 - Pakistan: susp., 1st report 20060514.1366
Stem rust, wheat - multicountry: new strains 20060406.1039
2005
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Stripe rust, wheat - Australia 20051031.3173
Wheat stem rust, Ug99, new strain - East Africa 20050928.2849
Wheat stem rust, new strain - Uganda 20050912.2698
Wheat stripe rust - USA (FL) 20050601.1521
and older items in the archives]