Some viruses are seedborne. Plants that arise from virus-infected seed may serve as a source of virus that can then spread to healthy plants. Yield losses from virus diseases in peanut depend on the severity of the disease, the percentage of plants infected, and the plant age when infection occurs. Yield loss is generally high if a large number of plants are severely infected early in the growing season. Yield loss is usually minimal when infection occurs late in the season when, most or all of the pods are mature, or by mild viruses, regardless of when plants are infected.
Viruses have yet to cause serious problems for Oklahoma peanut growers.
However, recent outbreaks of tomato spotted wilt virus in some peanut production areas of Texas and the southeast have caused serious economic losses. This publication is intended to provide information on viral diseases that have been found in Oklahoma or in other state where peanuts are grown. The virus has since been found worldwide in all major peanut producing areas, including Oklahoma. One reason that the virus is so widespread is that symptoms of PMV are often quite mild and it may have gone undetected for some time. Yield losses up to five to six percent have occurred in Georgia in a field with 26 percent infection.