OUTBREAKS OF FIRE BLIGHT IN ISRAEL IN 1985 AND 1986.

In Israel, fire blight had not been found previously, in spite of extensive cultivation of host plants.
In 1985, symptoms characteristic of fire blight were observed from May to August.
Erwinia amylovora was isolated from eight pear orchards and two apple orchards.
In three of the pear orchards, 5–10 percent of the trees showed symptoms, whereas in the five others only a few trees were affected.
Of the more severely infected pear orchards, two were about 25 years old and one was six years old.
The affected pear orchards are located in two regions 200 km apart.
Five are scattered over a distance of about 100 km in the Galilee in the north, and three adjacent orchards are in the southern coastal plain.
On apple, the disease was found in a few trees in two adjacent orchards in the Galilee.
In April 1986, the disease was detected at eight new sites scattered all over Israel, including one pear orchard in the Negev Desert in the south.
Based on analysis of the 1977–1985 temperature and rainfall records from five meterological stations located close to the infected orchards, it can be assumed that fire blight could become endemic in Israel.

IV International Workshop on Fire Blight

E. Shabi, D. Zutra

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1987.217.2