The Plant Health Directorate said today that over the past weeks it stopped the importation of three citrus consignments from Spain and Italy as part of its efforts to stop the establishment and spread of the Citrus Tristeza Virus in the Maltese islands.
The Citrus Tristeza Virus (CTV) is the most destructive citrus disease worldwide. Caused by a Closterovirus it is transmitted mainly by grafting of infected material and aphid vectors. The disease has led to the death of millions of Citrus trees all over the world and has rendered other millions useless for production. Farmers in Brazil and other South American countries gave it the name "tristeza", meaning sadness in Portuguese and Spanish, referring to the devastation produced by the disease in the 1930s. The symptoms are not always visible and may remain unnoticed for a number of years without affecting fruit setting and production.
The Plant Health Directorate regularly carries out inspections for CTV in citrus orchards throughout Malta and Gozo. Around 70 samples are collected each year and tested in the diagnostic laboratories.
As part of an EU wide effort to control the spread of CTV,...
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