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Infected tree in Italy (symbolic image)

Photo: Cesare Palma / Pond5 Images / IMAGO

Xylella pauca ST53 was discovered for the first time in Mallorca: the regional ministry for agriculture, fisheries and the environment announced this last week. During inspection work on olive trees, workers noticed abnormalities and took samples. The laboratory showed that it is a subspecies of a bacterium that can be dangerous for plants. The “Mallorca-Zeitung” first reported.

The bacterium Xylella is a plant pest known as fire bacterium. There are several subspecies, including pauca. Infected plants react very differently. Some show no symptoms, others die. Within the EU, Xylella has already been detected on several cultivated plants, including olive trees, plum, almond, cherry and ornamental trees.

The subspecies pauca is not entirely new. It was already detected in Apulia in 2013, and also in Corsica and Ibiza. In Apulia, the bacterial strain caused the rapid death of thousands of olive trees. The bacterium is transmitted from certain insects to other plants.

"We currently have seven outbreaks in total: six in wild olive trees and one in an oleander," said Regional Minister Joan Simonet, according to a statement last week. They were found within a three-kilometer radius of the municipality of Sencelles. “These trees have already been removed.” The European Commission has also already been informed about the outbreak.

Mallorca is now trying to contain the spread. The discovery requires extraordinary measures, said Fernando Fernández, director general of agriculture, livestock and rural development. These should now apply for at least one year. For example, infected plants should be removed and samples taken within a radius of 50 meters around them.

“Our main goal now is to stop the spread of this harmful organism in the traditional olive groves and productive olive groves of Mallorca with a new containment plan,” continued Fernández.

The Balearic Islands have been keeping a register of Xylella samples since 2016, according to the statement. "Since then, 20,804 samples have been taken, with 1,566 positive results from 38 different host species."

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