Sudden Oak May Be Snuffed Out in Virginia

The Virginia-Pilot reported today that Virginia state and federal officials are claiming that sudden oak death is close to being contained.

A microscopic water mold, phytophthora ramorum, is responsible for the lethal tree disease that affects tanoaks, live oaks, bigleaf maples and dozens of other trees and ornamental plants.

The mold had turned up in nurseries in Chesapeake and Hampton, Va. but has since been completely erased from those areas. Currently there is no indications that there are any more sudden oak infections in the state. Despite this, state officials will conduct an unprecedented canvass of Virgina home owners targeting plants purchased from nurseries in the past two years. Officials explain that missing one plant could result in dire consequences if the mold spreads to the state's Blue Ridge and Alleghenies, both of which are heavily wooded with oaks.