History of the Dutch elm disease :

United States

Dutch elm disease is believed to have originated in Asia. The first reported incidences were in 1919 in the Netherlands and in Northern France. The first pandemic soon spread to throughout Europe. It was believed that the toxic gases from World War I had caused the high casualties in the elm population later, due to the research of Dr. Bea M. Schwartz, Dr. Christine Buisman, and a team of Dutch researchers the high mortality rate of the elms was attributed to the fungus Ceratocystis ulmi.
Figure 5. Distrubtion of Dutch elm disease in the United States in 1978 (figure provided by USDA)

The second pandemic began in 1930’s in the United States. The most probable way in which the pathogen entered the country is from elm veener logs that were being imported from Europe. The first reported case of the fungus Ophiostoma novo-ulmi, a more aggressive form, occurred in 1930 in Cleveland, Ohio (Swinton 1996). Throughout 1940’s Dutch elm disease was confined mainly to the northeast until World War II when control measures were eased. In 1978, Dutch elm disease had spread to 42 states (Figure 5.). An estimated 77 million elms were present in the United States before 1930 and after the introduction of Dutch elm disease the numbers dropped by 56% to 43 million in 1976 (Ecological Services Bulletin, number 6).

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