Disease Killing Tomato and Potato Plants in the Northeast
Tomato plants are being pulled from store shelves so that an airborne disease cannot sicken other plants. The late blight disease killing tomato plants is been dubbed the "bubonic plague" of the tomato world. Cornell University professor of plant pathology, Meg McGrath, says infection means "certain death" for tomato plants. RedOrbit says the outbreak in the northeast has been made worse this year because of rainy weather.
Late blight occurs intermittently in the northeastern U.S., but this year's outbreak is more serious, as rainy weather has hastened the spores' airborne spread and infected plants have been widely distributed by large retail chains.
Although the disease, the same one responsible for the 1840s Irish Potato Famine, is not harmful to humans, it is highly contagious and likely spread on store shelves to nearby uninfected plants, experts say.
It can also spread after plants reach their final destination, further increasing the risk to other tomato and potato plants in commercial fields and home gardens.
Cornell University professor of plant pathology, Meg McGrath, said late blight was "worse than the Bubonic Plague for plants."
"People need to realize this is probably one of the worst diseases we have in the vegetable world," she told the Associated Press. "It's certain death for a tomato plant."
A release on Science Daily says the late blight is killing tomato and potato plants in gardens and on commercial farms. The infectious disease is same one that caused the Irish potato famine in the 1840s.
A Newsday story says Bonnie Plants, a plant supplier and seed distributor, has lost $1 million worth in sales because of the blight fungus.
Tomato plants are being pulled from store shelves so that an airborne disease cannot sicken other plants. The 
