Panama disease

Panama disease (or Fusarium wilt) is a plant disease that infects banana plants (Musa spp.). It is a wilting disease caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc). The pathogen is resistant to fungicides and until now, its control is limited to phytosanitary measures. Panama disease (or Fusarium wilt) is a plant disease that infects banana plants (Musa spp.). It is a wilting disease caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc). The pathogen is resistant to fungicides and until now, its control is limited to phytosanitary measures. During the 1950s, a first outbreak of Panama disease almost wiped out the commercial Gros Michel banana production. The Gros Michel banana was the dominant cultivar of bananas, and Fusarium wilt inflicted enormous costs and forced producers to switch to other, disease-resistant cultivars. Currently, a new outbreak of Panama disease caused by the strain Tropical Race 4 (TR4) threatens the production of today's most popular cultivars, Cavendish. Not all banana producing countries have been affected by the new outbreak of Panama disease (TR4) yet. Tropical Race 4 has first been identified in Taiwan and from there rapidly spread through Southeast Asia, conquering Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Australia and the Philippines. Originally thought to be limited to Asia, the disease was then suddenly identified in Jordan in 2013. Foc TR4 expansion then continued to Vietnam and Laos, as well as to the Middle East being reported in Pakistan and Lebanon. In 2015, the disease then spread to Africa, being informally announced in Mozambique and Oman. Since the pathogen continues to spread West, researchers and growers are trying to prevent the dispersal of Foc TR4 to a yet uninfected region comprising the world's biggest banana exporters: Latin America. Two external symptoms help characterize Panama disease of banana: