He said he had no doubt that it had spread over the last four years to European countries and would arrive in Portugal sooner or later so preventive measures had to be taken to stop the bacteria’s progress.
João Cortez de Lobão also said that measures had to be taken to ensure that olive growers had to notify the authorities if they suspected a tree was infected so they could control the zone and stop the contagion.
“The fact of the matter is that when a tree has become infected, it is going to die”, he stressed.
The most recent case of the bacteria in Europe was in an almond orchard in the Valencia region of Spain, the first time it has been seen to reach the Iberian Peninsula.