Chisinau chestnuts plagued by widespread disease, another 'rare' virus detected

Over 13,000, or about 70 percent of chestnut trees in Chisinau are suffering from a disease caused by a dangerous pest called {Cameraria ohridella}, or the horse chestnut leaf miner, with the worst affected districts being Botanica and Rascani, Info-Prim Neo reports. Galina Leahu, deputy head of the municipal Greenspaces Agency, says the parasite fist appeared in the city three years ago and the municipal administration has since been fighting to cure the damaged trees. The horse chestnut leaf miners have plagued numerous cities across Europe, in particular the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, which is often called the 'city of chestnuts'. In Moldova, the parasite came from northern Balkans, says Galina Leahu. “This pest is like any other parasite, like the potato beetle, or the Large White, meaning it can appear anywhere, anytime”. The leaf miners are thriving in Chisinau due to the warm weather and if winter is mild, the caterpillars will boom the next season. Maria Poleacova, the head of the plant protection station, says efforts are being made to disinfest the trees and they are likely to be more effective with the parasite entering the development stage. “We've been fighting with this parasite for three years now, and the only method is to spray the trees with pesticides against both adult moths and caterpillars”. Despite the bad appearance of the leaves of the chestnut trees infested with Cameraria ohridella, the disease which it causes is believed to be harmless to tree performance. Another problem signaled by Galina Leahu is that a “very rare” virus is affecting coniferous shrubs in the city. “This is a new and very strange virus. While in earlier times shrubs were only affected by diseases and vermin, now a new virus has been observed which is killing them”. The plant protection authorities are now examining methods to exterminate the new virus.