Stone Fruit Industry Will Need To Remain Vigilant When It Comes To Plum Pox

Last month, the USDA declared the country completely free of Pulm Pox Virus, a stone fruit tree disease that causes severe yield losses.  Scientists across the U.S. have been battling the virus for 20 years.

"When it broke out in 1999, in Pennsylvania, APHIS and Department of Agriculture asked me to come and be part of the science team and eradication program," said Tim Gottwald is a USDA epidemiologist who helped eradicate the Plum Pox Virus

The USDA's Greg Ibach said the eradication is great news for the U.S. stone fruit industry.

"This allows us to be able to have protected more than 1 million acres of stone fruit across our country and stone fruit exports worth more than $5.4 billion dollars each year."

Could Plum Pox Virus return?  Gottwald says that could happen, since the disease still exists in other locations around the world, meaning the U.S. will need to remain vigilant.

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