Rhododendron and Kalmia samples were collected from two Puget Sound, WA residential landscapes in April as part of a P. ramorum trace-forward investigation from an out-of-state nursery. All samples were negative.

A mature Pieris plant at a Kitsap County, WA botanical garden was found P. ramorum positive. The sample had been submitted to the Washington State University Plant Clinic in Puyallup.  Under the direction of the USDA, regulatory sampling was conducted on the suspect Pieris plant, as well as other plants around the botanical garden.  Mitigation and management procedures are being identified and put in place to help prevent spread and future introductions of the pathogen into the garden.

Two Washington waterways in Kitsap and Thurston Counties have been found positive for P. ramorum in 2015. Both waterways have been positive in previous years and are downstream from previously positive nurseries. Ten waterways in six counties (Clallam, King, Kitsap, Lewis, Mason, and Thurston) are being monitored this year for the pathogen; no other confirmations have been made.

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