The Fourth International Symposium on Tospoviruses was held at the Taiwan Agricultural Research Institute in Taichung, Taiwan on 7 - 10 November, 1996. The symposium was by far the largest to date in terms of attendance, with 115 participants from five continents. Australia is keeping a close watch, as usual, in keeping new tospoviruses out of that country.
Hosts Tospoviruses infect many crops worldwide.
They are vectored by thrips, which feed on wide variety of vegetable crops. The host range of tospoviruses is wide. Using modern diagnostic tools, more weed, floral, vegetable and important food crops are being found as new hosts for these viruses. Integrated management practices have shown limited control in nurseries and in peanut fields. The use of resistant cultivars may therefore offer the best means of protection.