Fire Blight

Killer Epidemic Hits Apple Trees in Michigan
Discovery Earth Alert, June 23, 2000

Apple orchards in southwestern Michigan have been left with charred leaves and shriveled fruit in an onslaught of the killer epidemic, fire blight. Al Almy, Michigan Farm Bureau's director of public policy and commodities, said, "The problem here is devastating. It could put some of the very best growers right out of business." The bacterial disease primarily affects apple and pear trees, often striking where leaves or blossoms have been weakened by severe wind or hail. It is spread from tree to tree by insects, destroying the tissue it enters and often traveling down the tree to its root system. Tree leaves are left looking as if they had been hit with a blow torch. Some strains of the blight are reported to have developed a resistance to the antibiotic sprays used by farmers. Growers reported that a hailstorm that hit the region packing heavy winds on May 18 is believed to have triggered the huge outbreak. Experts reported that approximately 300-400 growers will be affected, and more than 27,000 acres of apples infected. Alan Jones, a professor of plant pathology at Michigan State University, said, "This is one of the worst epidemics we have ever seen."