Plants potentially infected with Phytophthora ramorum shipped to Maryland residents

Maryland residents may have received nursery plants infected with the fungus-like pathogen Phytophthora ramorum, which causes the disease sudden oak death.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) notified the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA), that a nursery in a regulated area of Oregon, found to have infected plants during routine testing as part of a compliance agreement with USDA, shipped plant material directly to Maryland residents. MDA notified each of the households that received these plants and provided them with a test kit. To date, only one plant, witch hazel, sent to a Montgomery County homeowner from the affected nursery, has tested positive for P. ramorum. The department has received 22 samples and is following up to obtain plant samples from the remaining 15 test kit recipients.

"USDA notified the Department that nursery stock potentially infected with P. ramorum had been shipped to Maryland from a nursery stock producer in Oregon," said Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance. "The discovery of sudden oak death on nursery stock is not cause for panic. MDA plant inspectors have been in contact with those who received these plants to inspect and test suspect material from the Oregon nursery. We encourage everyone to report suspicious plants – especially if they were purchased from the West Coast.”