Skip to content
Home » News » Environment » Oak wilt disease found in trees in Middlesex area

Oak wilt disease found in trees in Middlesex area

A concerned landowner in this Yates County community has been told that trees on his property tested positive for the fungus that causes oak wilt.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation announced this week that samples from two of the oak trees sent to the Cornell Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic tested positive for the disease.

This is the first time oak wilt has been confirmed in Yates County. Yates joins Ontario, Kings, Suffolk and Schenectady counties as having oak wilt; the Ontario County case occurred in the town of Canandaigua.

DEC officials said the current treatment method is to remove the infected trees, as well as any nearby oaks that could become infected. A quarantine district prohibiting the movement of oak materials out of the immediate area will be established.

Continue reading from The Finger Lakes Times