Network analysis reveals why Xylella fastidiosa will persist in Europe

The insect vector borne bacterium Xylella fastidiosa was first detected in olive trees in Southern Italy in 2013, and has since spread rapidly through Italy’s main olive oil producing region. The epidemiology of the outbreak is largely unknown, with the list of X. fastidiosa hosts and vectors in Europe likely incomplete, and no measure of the human contribution to dispersal. This knowledge gap has forced management strategies to fall back on general assumptions that dictate the destruction of infected plants and healthy ones around them in an attempt to eradicate or halt the spreading pest. Here we show that, regardless of epidemiological uncertainties, the mere distribution of olive orchards in Southern Italy makes the chances of eradicating X. fastidiosa from the region extremely slim. Our results imply that Southern Italy will become a reservoir for X. fastidiosa, putting at risk not only Italian crops, but the entire Mediterranean region.

STRONA Giovanni;  CARSTENS Jacobien;  BECK Pieter; 

2017-05-12

NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP

JRC101819

2045-2322,   

http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-017-00077-z,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC101819,   

10.1038/s41598-017-00077-z,