Canadian Food Inspection Agency staff have quarantined a field near Kensington on Prince Edward Island, pending tests for what’s suspected to be potato wart, CBC News reported Tuesday.
A single potato was pulled from the field with what appeared to be potato wart, an agency spokesman told CBC, adding that the field is near another already known to be infected with the fungus.
David Cameron, acting regional director at CFIA’s Charlottetown office, told CBC that protocols now in place will prevent a repeat of October 2000, when wart was found in the province and the U.S. shut its gates to P.E.I. potatoes for six months.
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The fungus is known to reduce yield and ruin potatoes’ appearance, making them unmarketable, but does not affect human health. It can be carried from field to field through soil on contaminated plant material or farm equipment.
The U.S. agreed to resume potato imports in April 2001 after agreeing to a zone system that allows crops to be exported from most farmland in the province, except the area where wart has been found and fields on which the same equipment was used. If wart is confirmed, the field would be taken out of potato production.
