The Zimbabwean government has started clearing shipments of green bananas from Mozambique, where TR4 is present, destined for Zambia. The Zimbabwean Department of Plant Quarantine in the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Settlement had initially refused passage for fear that it would spread the fungal strain that causes Fusarium wilt in Cavendish bananas and a wide range of cultivars. The shipments were authorized to go through Zimbabwe after "research [indicated] that green bananas cannot spread [Fusarium wilt]", overlooking the risk posed by the trucks carrying the bananas.
As the authors of a paper on the epidemiology of Fusarium wilt point out: "Long distance dispersal of Fusarium wilt is mainly due to anthropogenic-related factors." The main ones, including vehicles, are illustrated in Figure 3 of the paper.
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