The pest status of tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) in the United Kingdom has officially been declared as: Absent, pest eradicated, after sites where the virus had previous been present were shown to be clean and free of the virus.
A report on the EPPO Global Database, reported that the virus had been eradicated from the United Kingdom.
In the United Kingdom, ToBRFV, was first detected in July 2019 in a greenhouse producing tomato fruit (Solanum lycopersicum) in Kent and in 2020 in four sites in the West Midlands, and one site in the East of England. ‘Eradication measures were applied in all sites and included the destruction of the affected crop and the cleansing and disinfection of the affected glasshouses,’ said the report. ‘Newly planted crops at these sites were inspected, sampled and tested for ToBRFV and none of the crop samples tested positive. The affected glasshouse at one site did not have a follow-on host crop and was left empty after cleansing and disinfection.’
Photo caption: ToBRFV resistant varieties are now being developed