Apples: Fire blight free and headed to Japan.

The article discusses the result of the risk assessment research conducted by plant pathologist Rodney Roberts of the U.S. Agricultural Research Service (ARS) on the potential role of exported U.S. apples to carry Erwinia amylovora and spread fire blight disease to Japan. Roberts claims that it is impossible for the apples being shipped to Japan to carry the pathogen. He says that the range of likelihood is between 5,000 and 750,000 years of shipping. The risk assessment analysis is part of the effort of the U.S. to convince Japan to accept apples from the country.