Posted: September 1, 2000

ODA issues quarantine on glassy-winged sharpshooter

Quarantine Document

August 30, 2000…The Oregon Department of

Agriculture has established an emergency quarantine against

glassy-winged sharpshooter– a small leaf-hopping insect that could

threaten the state’s multi-million dollar wine grape industry. The

insect is known to carry the bacterium causing Pierce’s Disease,

which kills plants by choking off their ability to consume water and

nutrients. Insect traps placed by ODA have caught two glassy-winged

sharpshooters in nurseries located near Aurora. However, there is no

evidence that the insect has become established in Oregon.

Pierce’s Disease has caused extensive problems in Southern

California. The quarantine, established with the cooperation and

support of Oregon’s wine and nursery industries, attempts to protect

the industries by preventing the introduction and spread of the

glassy-winged sharpshooter.

Areas covered by the quarantine include Mexico, 11 counties of

California, several Southern states infested with glassy-winged

sharpshooter, and any other states or counties found to be infested

with the insect during the life of the quarantine. Grapevines and a

variety of nursery plants from affected areas are impacted by the

quarantine.

The emergency quarantine requires nursery stock being shipped into

Oregon from infested areas be treated by an appropriate pesticide

prior to shipment or to come from nurseries under a compliance

agreement with the state of origin’s agriculture department. Such

agreements require adherence to specific protocols to ensure the

nursery stock is free of glassy-winged sharpshooter.

Sites within Oregon where glassy-winged sharpshooter is found

associated with plants imported from the area under quarantine must

be treated with an insecticide labeled for leafhoppers. The

requirement extends to plant material within a reasonable buffer zone

approved by the Oregon Department of Agriculture.

While potentially devastating to the state’s nearly 10,000 acres

of wine grapes, Pierce’s Disease has never been found in Oregon. It

is unknown whether the bacterium or the sharpshooters can survive the

cooler climate of Oregon. Still, state officials feel it is important

to take preventive measures to protect Oregon’s important wine and

nursery industries.

The emergency quarantine goes into effect immediately.

For more information, contact Dan Hilburn at (503) 986-4644.