Resistant varieties, identified by the letters TMV in seed catalogs, on seed packages, or on variety labels should be planted where available. Washing hands with soap and water before and during the handling of plants and after using tobacco products effectively inactivates the virus. Plantings should be started with healthy transplants produced from virus-free seed. These viruses infect many weed and crop plants and infected plants serve as new sources of virus. The viruses are spread from infected to healthy plants by several species of thrips.
Thrips are tiny insects that inhabit flowers, leaves, and soil.
Impatiens and gloxinia are commonly found to be infected with the viruses in greenhouses. In the field, several vegetable crops, winter annual weeds, and perhaps infected thrips overwintering in soil are sources of the viruses. Tomato and pepper are among the most susceptible vegetable crops to tomato spotted wilt. In Oklahoma, tomato spotted wilt has been a problem mainly in greenhouse production of transplants. Planting of infected tomato transplants is thought to be responsible for the observed infections of field-grown tomatoes.