The Canada Food Regulator is taking measures to avoid the spread of a virus that affects fruit trees after it was detected in the Hamilton and Niagara area for the first time since 2013.
On its website, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) says that the plum smallpox virus (PPV) can “drastically reduce” plant yields, including peaches, nectarines, plums, apricots, cherries and almonds. The Niagara region is known for its stone fruit, with tourism that Niagar with the region grows more than 80 percent of Canada’s peaches.
The PPV “is a serious threat to the industries of tender fruits, fruit and nurseries processing of Canada,” the CFIA said in a press release on February 24.
Since 2011, the CFIA has monitored and managed the virus, which does not harm people, but negatively affects stone fruit trees.
In 2013, CFIA established a “regulated area” that includes the northern part of Lake Niagara that borders the Ontario Lake and part of East Hamilton. In the regulated area, it is forbidden to move and grow plants that house the virus.
In spring and summer, inspectors monitor and take tree samples near the edge on both sides of the regulated area. More than 10 years passed without detection, which was “a very good sign worked,” said Chris Balardo, an inspection advisor of the headquarters in St. Catharines, Ontario. CFIA last detected the virus in the region in 2013.
But last summer, said Balardo, the inspectors detected two new infestations in Stoney Creek inside the Hamilton part of the regulated area. In response, CFIA expanded part of that area in additional 2.5 kilometers.
The new detections are “definitely worrying,” said Bala. The hope is to extend the area with restrictions “will slow down any future extension.”
Within the regulated area, people cannot move potentially infested materials, including young branches with outbreaks and young plants grown in nurseries.
Producers within the area must obtain new trees from outside the area or producers approved by the CFIA to ensure that they are not spreading the virus, Balardo said.
The inspectors monitor the virus sampling tree leaves in orchards and private properties. Balardo said that this year, his team will make regular surveillance in the area where the virus was detected last year.
In addition to protecting national trees, PPV regulation is a necessary part to keep access to the United States fruit market for Canadian producers.
No treatment for PPV
Identified in Bulgaria, PPV was first detected in Ontario and Nueva Scotia in 2000 and Pennsylvania in 1999. It no longer exists in the eastern province or the United States. The Niagara-Hamilton area is the only area regulated by PPV in Ontario.
The aphids can spread the virus among the trees and also spread when people spread new plants using infected plants, hence propagation restrictions.
Ring -shaped spots on the leaves and the fruit can be a symptom of the virus, but it can be detected more reliable by tissue samples, says CFIA. There is no treatment for the PPV, so the most effective way to prevent an infected tree from spreading is to eliminate the tree and its roots.
Balardo said they want people to know that CFIA inspectors will be in the field during the growth season and available if people have questions. He added that people can Online reporting sightings.
It is “very, very important to help protect the industry and the environment of Canada,” he said.
