EUROPA

The Chair of EFSA’s Scientific Committee, Susanne Hougaard Bennekou, said: “We are greatly saddened to lose our colleague and friend. Kostas’s humanity as well as his expertise have enlightened the Scientific Committee and guided his past roles, in particular, as a member and the Chair of EFSA’s Panel on Biological Hazards.”EFSA’s Executive Director, Bernhard Url, stated: “On behalf of EFSA, the staff and our community of experts, our heartfelt sympathies at this sad time go to Kostas’s family. We’re deeply sorry for your profound loss. We will also miss him dearly.”

Key findings:A new host plant was identified: the Cantabrian mountain oak (Quercus orocantabrica) was naturally infected in Portugal.For the first time, natural infections of the Pierce’s disease strain – a strain of Xylella fastidiosa that causes disease in vineyards in North America – have been found in grapes, almonds and other plants in Italy’s Apulia region.The total number of confirmed host species has increased to 452 species (from 70 different botanical families) when using the most stringent detection methods.No new sequence types (STs) of Xylella were identified worldwide.BackgroundXylella fastidiosa is a bacterial pathogen that causes severe diseases in a wide range of plants, including olive trees, citrus fruits, grapevines and various ornamental plants. EFSA developed the Xylella spp. host plant database following a request from the European Commission to support risk assessment and management efforts to control Xylella fastidiosa. The database, which has been continuously updated since 2016, serves as an important resource for policy makers, researchers, and plant health authorities.Read the full reportFor more information, contact plants [at] efsa.europa.eu (plants[at]efsa[dot]europa[dot]eu).