Bovine tuberculosis is a contagious, infectious, and communicable disease. It affects cattle, bison, deer, elk, goats, and other species, including humans. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is proposing to add new fields to the list of areas regulated for Karnal bunt following the detection of bunted kernels in harvested grain. USDA is also proposing to remove certain fields from the list of regulated areas where wheat is no longer grown or where the wheat has tested negative for Karnal bunt. These actions would help prevent the spread of Karnal bunt into noninfested areas of the United States while removing restrictions where they are no longer warranted.
Karnal bunt is a fungal disease of wheat that is spread by planting infected seeds.
Failure to prevent the spread of this fungal disease could have a significant impact on the United States' ability to export wheat to international markets. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is proposing new regulations that would require artificially dwarfed plants imported into the United States to be grown under certain conditions in registered nurseries. This proposal would protect against the introduction of longhorned beetles and other dangerous plant pests of concern to USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. The volume of artificially dwarfed and other dwarf plants imported into the United States has increased dramatically in recent years, from fewer than 600 plants in 1993 to 54,749 plants in 1998. Like the melaleuca snout beetle Oxyops vitiosa , the Fergusonina fly and the tiny Fergusobia worm effectively attack melaleuca flowers and leaf buds, but in an entirely different way.