First and foremost it is important to note that in the early 1800's E.amylovara was the first bacterium that could be used in experiments to demonstrate that it did indeed cause disease in plants. It is accepted that this destructive crop bacteria had initially originated in North America. Today, E.amylovara can currently be found in all the provinces of Canada, as well as in some parts of the United States of America some states include Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut,Georgia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Other American countries of its occurrence include but are not limited to Mexico and Bermuda. On the African continent E.amylovora has been confirmed in Egypt.

It is believed that the pathogen was first introduced into Northern Europe through bacterial ooze from fruit containers in the 1950's, imported from Northern America. During the 1950's-1960's, E.amylovora had spread through much of Northern Europe, yet leaving large areas of Germany and France seemingly untouched by the disease of which the bacteria causes a devastating disease known as "fireblight". This was short lived, as E.amylovora made it's presence known when it was discovered in the later 1990's in Germany. Nonetheless by the 1980's the E.amylovora bacteria had been found in the Eastern Meditteranian, although it's appearance in this region is thought to be an isolated appearance and not as a result of local transmission. Finally from the years 1995-1996 cases of fireblight had begun to be reported in countries such as Hungary, Romania, Northern Italy and Northern Spain.

E.amylovara typically makes it's entry into it's host xylem or cortical paranchyma. It can also enter through stomata, lenticles and hydathodes. ^[1]  It is dispersed by rain and or insects naturally, but this mode of dispersal is very ineffective and can only be effective for local transmission of the pathogen. Aerosols are also suspected in playing a role in it's transmission due to the detection of E.amylovora in Meditteranean regions. In composition the pathogen is composed of short rods with rounded ends made motile by many pertichous flagellae. E.amylovara is a gram negative bacterium (as stated above).

E.amylovora needs to be destroyed externally, before it enters the cell. This is simply because once it enters the host, it spreads during the endophytic phase of pathogenisis. Once this happens external control methods become ineffective. The ideal control method is done by making use of copper and antibiotics on the external of the plant. This is the only effective method and it is indeed preventative. Currently it has been noted that E.amylovora has developed a resistant to the antibiotic streptomycin, as do most bacteria due to their flexible ability to transfer preferential genes promoting resistivity to certain antibiotics horizontally from species not even similar to it as all bacterium can. ^[2]

Phytosanitary measures have been employed as the best sanitary measures against E.amylovara dispersal. High risk countries are encouraged not to import susceptible plants of the pathogen into their territory because, once the bacteria becomes established in an area it is nearly impossible to eradicate. Nurseries and orchards in such regions are placed on strict phytosanitary surveillance measures and well-monitered. ^[3] Imported and infected crops are destroyed as soon as they are noticed since the bacteria spreads very rapidly and eradication methods are usually costly and inefficient.

1. ^[2]  [1]Evo in the News, Superbug-superfast evolution, April 2008

2. ^[4] Int J mol Sci, Virulence Factors of E.amylovara: A Review ,June 5th 2015

3. ^[1] Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Identification of the Fire Blight Pathogen, Erwinia amylovora, by PCR Assays with Chromosomal DNA, July 1995

4. ^[3] Data Sheets on Quarantine Pests Erwinia amylovora Prepared by CABI and EPPO for EU, (unspecified date)

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