The Portuguese General Directorate of Food and Veterinary Affairs (DGAV) updated the Xylella fastidiosa demarcated zone in the Porto metropolitan area.
The presence of the pathogen has been confirmed in 23 additional locations, causing the creation of new “infected areas” in the municipalities of Vila Nova de Gaia, Santa Maria da Feira, Gondomar, and Espinho. DGAV confirms the X. fastidiosa detection on citrus and the co-presence on the Portuguese territory of the two subspecies fastidiosa and multiplex, determining the split of the demarcated zone into two areas, A for fastidiosa and B for multiplex.
DGAV orders: the immediate destruction, after appropriate treatment against vector insects, of the infected plants in the infected zones, as well as all plants of the species on which X. fastidiosa has been detected in the demarcated area; the ban on planting host and plants susceptible to the subspecies multiplex and fastidiosa in the infected areas; restrictions to the movement of plants out of the demarcated area and from the infected areas into the buffer zones. The production and marketing of plants within the buffer zones will only be possible upon DGAV authorization.
