Brussels, 23/07/2015 (Agence Europe) - The arrival in Corsica of the deadly bacterium Xylella fastidiosa which attacks olive trees was confirmed by the Prefecture of the island on Wednesday 22 July, after a case was positively identified in Southern Corsica on Polygala myrtifolia plants in a retail area of the municipality of Propriano.
Before alerting the European authorities and, through this, neighbouring countries, French state agencies will have to find where these ornamental plants came from. If it turns out that, rather than this being a single isolated case, there is an infectious outbreak in Corsica, the European authorities will have to be informed and the response plan triggered: removal of plants within a radius of 100 metres around the seat of the infection and heightened monitoring within a ten-kilometre radius. This is the second case of the bacterium in France, after it was discovered on a coffee plant in the Rungis wholesale market on 15 April. The bacterium has been laying waste olive trees in Puglia in the south of Italy since 2013.
On 18 May, the European Commission adopted an implementing decision, 2015/789, on measures to prevent the introduction into and the spread within the Union of Xylella fastidiosa (see EUROPE 11305 for the expert agreement on these tougher measures). In the current situation in the south of Italy, the infected area within the area demarcated by the Italian authorities covers at least the whole of the province of Lecce. To reduce as far as possible the risk of spread of the bacterium beyond the demarcated area, the buffer zone extends ten kilometres. Within a radius of 100 metres of plants where tests have revealed infection by the bacterium, the member state concerned must immediately remove the host plants and any plants presenting possible symptoms of infection. (Lionel Changeur)