A second outbreak of ToBRFV has been confirmed at a tomato production site in the UK. This outbreak is likely the result of reinfection at the site from a previous outbreak, EPPO reports.
In total, there have been six outbreaks of tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) in commercial tomato production sites in England, one in 2019 and five in 2020. The outbreak site from 2019 was declared eradicated in 2020 following measures that were put in place in 2019 and inspection and testing of the new crop in 2020. The virus was declared eradicated in December 2021. In May 2022, a new outbreak was confirmed in a tomato production site in the West Midlands, which had been first infected in 2020. Eradication measures are applied.
ToBRFV is a damaging virus in tomato and pepper. Symptoms of the virus include mosaic patterning and deformation of leaves, necrosis of pedicels, calyces, petioles, and flowers, and discoloration, deformation, and necrosis of fruit. In severe cases, ToBRFV may lead to the wilting and yellowing, and eventually the death, of the plant.
Suspected findings of ToBRFV or any other non-native plant pest should be notified to the relevant authority:
For England and Wales, contact your local APHA Plant Health and Seeds Inspector or the PHSI Headquarters, York. Tel: 01904 405138 Email: planthealth.info@apha.gov.uk.
For Scotland, contact the Scottish Government’s Horticulture and Marketing Unit: Email: hort.marketing@gov.scot.
For Northern Ireland, contact the DAERA Plant Health Inspection Branch: Tel: 0300 200 7847 Email: planthealth@daera-ni.gov.uk.