Tomato brown rugose fruit virus in imported tomatoes in the retail trade in the United Kingdom

Summary Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) has rapidly emerged as a major transboundary plant health problem. Control regulations in Europe largely focus on the prevention of entry and spread of the virus using phytosanitary controls on the movement of seed and plants for planting. Eradication from infected production sites is required by the end of the current cropping cycle and contaminated fruit from these sites is considered a limited risk pathway. The volume of infected fruit circulating in retail trade is not currently known. During a single week of March 2023, a limited study sampled 54 packs of imported tomato fruit sourced from 11 retail chains in the area of York, United Kingdom. Of these over 80% of the fruit tested contained detectable levels of ToBRFV, with over 20% of fruit testing with Ct values lower than 15, indicating fruit was likely taken from infected plants. ToBRFV positive fruit originated from Morocco, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands. Fruit from all retail sources contained virus, with samples from eight stores testing at Ct 15 or below. These data indicate that ToBRFV positive fruit, either from active outbreaks or from virus contamination during packhouse processing is widely circulating in retail trade.