July 29, 2016
CapitalPress.com
9
Washington records year’s irst West Nile virus case
Mare in Yakima
County sick,
but may live
By DON JENKINS
Capital Press
A 2-year-old Andalu-
sian mixed-breed mare
in Grandview in Yakima
County, Wash., has been
sickened by West Nile vi-
rus, the state Department
of Agriculture announced
Monday.
The horse is the irst in-
fected by the virus this year
in Washington, which last
year had more equine cases
of the disease than any other
state.
The virus, spread by mos-
quitoes that have fed on in-
fected birds, typically begins
showing up in horses in late
July or early August.
The infected horse was not
vaccinated for the disease and
was stumbling and had trou-
ble eating, according to the
WSDA.
WSDA ield veterinarian
Thomas Gilliom said Monday
that the horse was still alive
and may recover.
Gilliom said he expected
the virus to sicken horses for
several more months. The
disease is fatal to horses in
about one-third of the cases in
which the animal shows signs
of illness.
“I’m going to assume
Potato researcher warns
of new disease threat
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
PARK CITY, Utah — A
plant pathologist has advised
the potato industry to prior-
itize research and testing to
combat a new threat to U.S.
spud production — the bac-
terial pathogen dickeya dian-
thicola.
University of Wisconsin
Associate Professor Amy
Charkowski, who also di-
rects Wisconsin’s seed potato
certiication program, told
growers at the National Pota-
to Council’s summer meeting
dickeya caused heavy damage
to spud ields throughout the
East Coast in 2015 and has
been troublesome again this
season.
Charkowski said the patho-
gen has posed a major chal-
lenge to European potato pro-
duction since the 1950s, but it
didn’t surface in the U.S. until
the fall of 2014, when a sam-
ple from the Northeast tested
positive. It’s since been con-
irmed in most of the major
potato states, including Idaho,
North Dakota, Texas, New
Mexico, Indiana, Ohio, Wis-
consin, Pennsylvania, North
Carolina, New York, New
Jersey, Maryland, Maine and
Florida. It’s also been found
in Canada in New Brunswick
and Ontario.
“If it gets too entrenched
in the seed system, it could
be a real problem,” Charkow-
ski said. “I’m really worried
about seed testing right now.
We don’t have the capacity to
test in our system.”
Charkowski said the bac-
teria can survive in irrigation
water and thrives in warm,
humid environments and
poorly ventilated potato cel-
lars. She said dickeya is easily
confused with its close rela-
tive, pectobacterium, which
is common in states includ-
ing Idaho and causes similar
“black leg” symptoms, in-
cluding curling and wilting
leaves, low emergence and
stem-base rot.
Charkowski said dickeya
symptoms may remain la-
tent, and it takes fewer dick-
eya bacteria to infect a plant.
Both pathogens need an open
wound to infect tissue.
No resistant commercial
varieties have been devel-
oped. Fortunately, European
researchers say the pathogen
doesn’t tend to survive longer
than nine months in soil, and
it can be effectively controlled
by good sanitation practices,
Charkowski said.
Charkowski said a re-
searcher from Scotland has
been working with Maine
growers to understand dick-
eya, and she and several col-
leagues applied for a grant to
work with him as a consul-
tant. She’d also like funding
to research environmental
conditions that favor dickeya
and how to keep dickeya from
spreading on seed cutters,
believing seed is the primary
way the disease spreads. She
would also like to see seed
certiication programs single
out black leg in test results.
University of Idaho Exten-
sion potato storage specialist
Nora Olsen spotted symptoms
of dickeya at the Kimberly
Research and Extension Cen-
ter in 2015, after learning of it
during a meeting with Maine
growers. The center’s sam-
ples tested positive, along
with about six other samples
subsequently submitted that
season by commercial grow-
ers, she said. Charkowski said
her lab tested a positive sam-
ple from an Idaho commercial
potato farm this season.
Courtesy of Amy Charkowski
University of Wisconsin plant pathologist Amy Charkowski.
Idaho Potato Commis-
sioner Ritchey Toevs, of
Aberdeen, advocates dick-
eya testing of nuclear and
first-generation seed as part
of his state’s seed certifica-
tion program, using samples
growers must already submit
for ring rot testing. Though
Toevs acknowledges Idaho’s
conditions appear to be un-
favorable for widespread
dickeya, he noted, “We see
problems come up so quick-
ly, and you don’t know
which ones are big threats
and which ones you can live
with.”
we’re going to have quite a
few horses infected,” he said.
“Sadly, a lot of people seem to
not put much stock in vacci-
nating their horses, for what-
ever reason.”
WSDA identiied 36 hors-
es with the virus in 2015, the
most in Washington since 73
horses were sickened in 2009.
All cases were in Eastern
Washington.
In addition, 24 humans
were infected by the virus.
No humans have contracted
the disease this year, accord-
ing to the state Department of
Health.
Mosquitoes trapped this
summer in Adams, Benton,
Grant, Franklin and Yakima
counties have tested positive
for West Nile virus.
“It’s never too late to vac-
cinate your horse for West
Nile virus,” Gilliom said.
“We’ve had cooler days, but
when hot summer days return,
the risks of mosquito bites
will increase.”
Besides
vaccination,
horse owners can protect
their animals by limiting ex-
posure to mosquitoes, espe-
cially by eliminating stand-
ing water.
Veterinarians who learn
of potential West Nile virus
cases in horses or other ani-
mals should contact the State
Veterinarian’s Ofice at (360)
902-1878.
The USDA in 2015 tallied
225 cases of West Nile virus
in horses nationwide.
No progress made on Idaho ield burning changes
By SEAN ELLIS
Capital Press
BOISE — An EPA ofi-
cial’s proposal to solve a dis-
agreement between Idaho farm
and environmental groups over
proposed changes to the state’s
ield burning program was not
accepted during a negotiated
rulemaking meeting July 20.
The two sides left the meet-
ing far apart on proposed pro-
gram changes that Idaho De-
partment of Environmental
Quality oficials say are neces-
sary to avoid a large reduction
in the number of allowable ield
burning days for Idaho farmers.
Patti Gora-McRavin, who
represents clean air advocates
in the negotiations, said the lack
of progress made during the
meeting and the failure to agree
on the EPA oficial’s idea was a
huge disappointment.
“I’m frankly stunned at the
way the meeting ended up,” she
said. “I’m super disappointed
about what didn’t happen to-
day.”
DEQ can only approve a
burn request when ozone and
small particulate matter levels
aren’t expected to exceed 75
percent of the national standard
for those air pollutants in a 24-
hour period.
EPA tightened the feder-
al ozone standard in October,
which would result in the num-
ber of allowable burn days for
Idaho farmers being reduced by
a third to half, according to DEQ
estimates.
Submitted photo
A farm ield is burned to control diseases and eradicate pests in
this undated Idaho Department of Environmental Quality photo.
Idaho farm and environmental groups appear far apart on pro-
posed changes to the state’s ield burning program.
To prevent that, DEQ has
proposed loosening Idaho’s
ozone standard to 90 percent of
the federal standard. Environ-
mental and public health groups
want an equal tightening of the
small particulate matter, or PM
2.5, standard, to maintain cur-
rent public health protections.
That would mean tightening
Idaho’s PM 2.5 standard to 60
percent of the federal standard,
something farm groups are op-
posed to and something DEQ’s
proposal does not do.
Mike McGown, EPA’s re-
gional smoke management co-
ordinator and a member of the
advisory committee, last week
loated the idea of leaving the
current 75 percent standard in
place for all pollutants, unless
ozone levels are expected to
exceed that level. In that case,
DEQ would reconsider the burn
decision based on the criteria
of the ozone standard being 90
percent of the federal standard
and the PM 2.5 standard being
60 percent.
But farm group representa-
tives oppose lowering the PM
2.5 standard that much and
said McGown’s idea doesn’t
address the main issue, the per-
centage changes. They are also
concerned that EPA, which is
reviewing the federal PM stan-
dard, will soon tighten that stan-
dard as well.
With the likelihood of EPA
tightening the PM 2.5 stan-
dard, “There’s a level of un-
ease taking that drastic of a
cut,” Idaho Grain Producers
Association Executive Direc-
tor Stacey Katseanes-Satter-
lee said about public health
groups’ desire to lower the
PM standard to 60 percent.
John Deere Dealers
See one of these dealers for a demonstration
31-1/#4N