Local Spread of Oak Wilt in Northeastern West Virginia During 1970–1982. Manfred E. Mielke, Plant Pathologist, Forest Pest Management, USDA Forest Service, Morgantown, WV 26505. Clark Haynes, Plant Pathologist, Plant Pest Control Division, West Virginia Department of Agriculture, Charleston 25305; and Charles O. Rexrode, Principal Entomologist, USDA Forest Service, Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, Delaware, OH 43015. Plant Dis. 67:1222-1223. Accepted for publication 8 May 1983. This article is in the public domain and not copyrightable. It may be freely reprinted with customary crediting of the source. The American Phytopathological Society, 1983. DOI: 10.1094/PD-67-1222.

In 1982, 41 oak wilt centers originally found in 1970–1973 in northeastern West Virginia were revisited to determine the presence of oak wilt and the increase in oak mortality since the time of discovery. Fourteen centers had no dead or wilting trees. Ten centers had wilting trees and 27 had dead or dying trees within 15.2 m of the tree that died first on the site. Neither cacodylic acid injections nor deep girdling in 1970–1973 affected the subsequent incidence of mortality compared with no treatment. The average rate of increase in the 27 centers showing symptoms of oak wilt was 0.39 newly diseased trees per center per year. Total basal area per hectare was affected little by oak wilt.