Panama disease
Panama disease is the name commonly given to Fusarium wilt, a lethal disease of bananas that is caused by the soil-borne fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc). It is named after Panama, one of the first countries to report the disease in the 1890s.
One of the strains of the fungus, tropical race 4 (TR4), has been responsible for outbreaks in commercial plantations of Cavendish bananas in Asia, where it originated, and has since been observed in Australia, the Middle East and Africa.
Related content
Musapedia page on Fusarium wilt
Musapedia page on Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense, the causal agent of Fusarium wilt
News and blogs on Fusarium wilt:
- TR4 in Mayotte
- TR4 in Colombia
- Update on TR4 in Israel
- Zimbabwe authorizes passage of banana shipments from Mozambique
- Independent review of Biosecurity Queensland's TR4 programme
- TR4 confirmed in India
- TR4 present in the UK
- NPPO declares TR4 eradicated from Israel
- TR4 spreading in India
- First report of TR4 in Myanmar