Background as of March 2019As a result of the health monitoring carried out by the members of ANSES's Expert Committee and our ANSES employees, we became aware of an alert concerning an emerging tomato virus: tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV).Tomato brown rugose fruit virus is an emerging tobamovirus first reported in 2014 in Israel and 2015 in Jordan on greenhouse tomatoes. In 2018, it was also reported in Mexico (where its eradication is under way), and in the United States where it was eradicated in the same year. Within the European Union (EU), it was reported in Germany in 2018 (North Rhine-Westphalia where its eradication is under way) and in Italy (Sicily) in early 2019. This virus was also the subject of an alert in the Bulletin de Santé du Végétal (BSV) for the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA) region in December 2018. It was added to the alert list of the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO) in January 2019 and was the subject of an alert sheet issued by ANSES's Laboratory for Plant Health (LSV_2019_03_0027).The main host plants of ToBRFV are tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and pepper (Capsicum annuum). The damage observed on greenhouse tomato plants includes chlorosis, mosaic and mottling on the leaves and necrotic spots on peduncles, calyces and flower stalks. Fruits show yellowor brown spots with characteristic rugose symptoms, and may be deformed and ripen irregularly, making them non-marketable. The incidence of the disease varies between 10 and 100% of fruit depending on the site. Similar symptoms have also been observed on Capsicum annuum fruits inMexico. Viruses belonging to the genus Tobamovirus have a particularly effective means of spread. Transmission is mechanical, through simple direct contact between plants or via hands, work tools, clothing, pollinating insects, birds or irrigation water. Seeds can also transmit tobamoviruses. Lastly, these viruses are highly stable and can survive for several months on inert media without any loss of infectivity. These ...
Background as of March 2019As a result of the health monitoring carried out by the members of ANSES's Expert Committee and our ANSES employees, we became aware of an alert concerning an emerging tomato virus: tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV).Tomato brown rugose fruit virus is an emerging tobamovirus first reported in 2014 in Israel and 2015 in Jordan on greenhouse tomatoes. In 2018, it was also reported in Mexico (where its eradication is under way), and in the United States where it was eradicated in the same year. Within the European Union (EU), it was reported in Germany in 2018 (North Rhine-Westphalia where its eradication is under way) and in Italy (Sicily) in early 2019. This virus was also the subject of an alert in the Bulletin de Santé du Végétal (BSV) for the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA) region in December 2018. It was added to the alert list of the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO) in January 2019 and was the subject of an alert sheet issued by ANSES's Laboratory for Plant Health (LSV_2019_03_0027).The main host plants of ToBRFV are tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and pepper (Capsicum annuum). The damage observed on greenhouse tomato plants includes chlorosis, mosaic and mottling on the leaves and necrotic spots on peduncles, calyces and flower stalks. Fruits show yellowor brown spots with characteristic rugose symptoms, and may be deformed and ripen irregularly, making them non-marketable. The incidence of the disease varies between 10 and 100% of fruit depending on the site. Similar symptoms have also been observed on Capsicum annuum fruits inMexico. Viruses belonging to the genus Tobamovirus have a particularly effective means of spread. Transmission is mechanical, through simple direct contact between plants or via hands, work tools, clothing, pollinating insects, birds or irrigation water. Seeds can also transmit tobamoviruses. Lastly, these viruses are highly stable and can survive for several months on inert media without any loss of infectivity. These ...
Background as of March 2019As a result of the health monitoring carried out by the members of ANSES's Expert Committee and our ANSES employees, we became aware of an alert concerning an emerging tomato virus: tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV).Tomato brown rugose fruit virus is an emerging tobamovirus first reported in 2014 in Israel and 2015 in Jordan on greenhouse tomatoes. In 2018, it was also reported in Mexico (where its eradication is under way), and in the United States where it was eradicated in the same year. Within the European Union (EU), it was reported in Germany in 2018 (North Rhine-Westphalia where its eradication is under way) and in Italy (Sicily) in early 2019. This virus was also the subject of an alert in the Bulletin de Santé du Végétal (BSV) for the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA) region in December 2018. It was added to the alert list of the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO) in January 2019 and was the subject of an alert sheet issued by ANSES's Laboratory for Plant Health (LSV_2019_03_0027).The main host plants of ToBRFV are tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and pepper (Capsicum annuum). The damage observed on greenhouse tomato plants includes chlorosis, mosaic and mottling on the leaves and necrotic spots on peduncles, calyces and flower stalks. Fruits show yellowor brown spots with characteristic rugose symptoms, and may be deformed and ripen irregularly, making them non-marketable. The incidence of the disease varies between 10 and 100% of fruit depending on the site. Similar symptoms have also been observed on Capsicum annuum fruits inMexico. Viruses belonging to the genus Tobamovirus have a particularly effective means of spread. Transmission is mechanical, through simple direct contact between plants or via hands, work tools, clothing, pollinating insects, birds or irrigation water. Seeds can also transmit tobamoviruses. Lastly, these viruses are highly stable and can survive for several months on inert media without any loss of infectivity. These epidemiological characteristics make tobamoviruses a formidable threat to highdensity crops such as those grown in greenhouses.The long-lasting resistance carried by the Tm-2 and Tm-2 2 genes deployed in tomato varieties in production since the 1970s has led to a considerable reduction in the negative impacts associated with other tobamoviruses (tomato mosaic virus and tobacco mosaic virus). However, these genes are ineffective against ToBRFV. The lack of resistance in tomatoes therefore particularly jeopardises this production sector, which has so far been spared.1.2 Purpose of the requestIn view of the importance of the greenhouse tomato production sector in France, the high infectivity of this virus and the susceptibility of the tomato, the succession of reports at production sites on several continents and especially within the EU, and the lack of regulatory measures against thisvirus, which could lead to certain high risk pathways, you are asked to carry out an express risk assessment of ToBRFV in order to:(i) assess the probability of introduction and spread of ToBRFV and the scale of the potential economic impacts in metropolitan France, (ii) propose possible management measures in the event of an unacceptable risk to the production sector. ; Contexte en mars 2019Grâce à la veille sanitaire réalisée par les membres du Comité d'Experts Spécialisé de l'Anses et nos agents Anses, une alerte nous est parvenue concernant un virus émergent de la tomate : le Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV).Le Tomato brown rugose fruit virus est un tobamovirus émergent dont les premiers signalements datent de 2014 en Israël et de 2015 en Jordanie sur des tomates produites sous serre. En 2018, il a été également signalé au Mexique (où il est en cours d'éradication) et aux Etats-Unis où il a étééradiqué la même année. Au sein de l'Union européenne (UE), il a été signalé en Allemagne en 2018 (Rhénanie-du-Nord-Westphalie, où il est en cours d'éradication) et en Italie (Sicile) début 2019.Ce virus a fait également l'objet d'une alerte dans le bulletin de santé du végétal (BSV) – ProvenceAlpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA) en décembre 2018. Il a été ajouté à la liste d'alerte de l'OEPP (Organisation Européenne et Méditerranéenne pour la Protection des Plantes) en janvier 2019 et ila fait l'objet d'une fiche d'alerte émise par le Laboratoire de la Santé des Végétaux (LSV_2019_03_0027).Les plantes hôtes principales du ToBRFV sont la tomate (Solanum lycopersicum) et le piment (Capsicum annuum). Les dégâts observés sur tomate en production sous serre incluent des chloroses, des mosaïques et des marbrures sur les feuilles, ainsi que des taches nécrotiques sur les pédoncules, calices et pédoncules floraux. Les fruits présentent des taches jaunes ou brunes, avec des symptômes de rugosité caractéristiques, et peuvent être déformés et avoir une maturation irrégulière, et ainsi devenir non commercialisables. L'incidence de la maladie varie entre 10 et 100%de fruits atteints selon les sites. Des symptômes similaires ont également été observés sur les fruits de Capsicum annuum au Mexique.Le mode de dissémination des virus appartenant au genre Tobamovirus est particulièrement efficace. La transmission est mécanique par simple contact direct entre les plantes ou via les mains, les outils de travail, les vêtements, les insectes pollinisateurs, les oiseaux et l'eau d'irrigation. Lessemences peuvent également transmettre les tobamovirus. Enfin, ces virus sont très stables : ils peuvent en effet survivre plusieurs mois sur des supports inertes sans perte de pouvoir infectieux. Ces caractéristiques épidémiologiques rendent les tobamovirus redoutables dans les cultures à haute densité de plantation comme les cultures conduites sous serre.La résistance durable portée par les gènes Tm-2 et Tm-22 et déployée dans les variétés de tomates de production depuis les années 1970 a permis une réduction considérable des impacts négatifs liés à d'autres tobamovirus (tomato mosaic virus et tobacco mosaic virus principalement). Or, ces gènes sont inefficaces contre le ToBRFV. L'absence de résistance chez la tomate met donc particulièrement en péril cette filière de production jusque-là épargnée.Objet de la saisine : Compte tenu de l'importance de la filière de production de tomates sous serre en France, du fort caractère infectieux de ce virus et de la sensibilité de la tomate, de la succession des signalements dans des sites de production sur plusieurs continents et plus particulièrement au sein de l'UE et de l'absence de mesure réglementaire vis-à-vis de ce virus qui pourrait engendrer des filières d'entrée à risque, il vous est demandé de réaliser une évaluation de risque simplifiée du ToBRFV afin de : (i) évaluer la probabilité d'introduction et de dissémination du ToBRFV et l'ampleur des impacts économiques potentiels sur le territoire français métropolitain,(ii) proposer des options de mesures de gestion en cas de risque inacceptable pour la filière de production.
The aim of the VirusCollect II project was to establish and extend an international network of collections of plant viruses and viroids thereby making virus isolates available for reference at diagnostic and research laboratories in Plant Health. At present access to isolates of regulated viruses is limited and only the plant virus collection at DSMZ is officially accredited as reference producer. Strengthening the infrastructure of plant virus collections is required because diagnostic tests on regulated organisms have to be accredited under the new Plant Health rules of the European Union that apply from December 14th 2019. The ability of laboratories of National Plant Protection Organizations (NPPOs) to fulfil this requirement will depend on public access to well-characterised virus isolates. The collaboration between partners of the Euphresco projects NGS-detect and VirusCollect II and especially their joint meetings offered a fruitful platform for exchanging practices in characterisation and safeguarding of virus isolates for reference. Discussions on practices in High-throughput sequencing (HTS) and analysis, and on quality criteria for reference materials contributed to a common understanding of procedures, as well as to identify future needs and functions of plant virus collections. Within the project more than 150 isolates of regulated and (related) non-regulated viruses have been made available. However, since identification of many isolates was based on only one technique, and/or sequence data were lacking or limited, not all of them qualify as reference material yet. Whether these isolates will be included in Q-bank depends on the criteria imposed on completeness of data and certainty of identification. The transfer of Q-bank to EPPO ensures the continuity of a platform for sharing data on availability and location of virus isolates for diagnostics and research. Two successive VirusCollect projects have made clear that plant virus collections are not on the priority list of policy makers and ...
