A new disease of corn, bacterial leaf streak, has lesions that look very similar to gray leaf spot. (Photo by Kirk Broders, Colorado State University)

ROCKVILLE, Md. (DTN) -- A little-known, new corn disease has suddenly surfaced in nine U.S. states this summer.

Researchers are scrambling to learn more about the disease, known for now as bacterial leaf streak, which originated in South Africa.

"There is currently limited information about this disease and what impacts it may have on corn production," said a Colorado State University release compiled by seven university plant pathologists. "There is also little known about the epidemiology of the pathogen."

Bacterial leaf streak has surfaced in field corn, seed corn, popcorn and sweet corn, and so far, it has been confirmed in Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas.

The disease may have been here for a couple years, University of Nebraska plant pathologist Tamra Jackson-Ziems wrote in a UNL article on the disease. "Over the last two years, the clinic has received disease samples from numerous counties across much of Nebraska, indicating the disease may be widespread and producers and others should be monitoring for its development," she wrote. "Confirmation of the disease identification was delayed because of the lack of historic research on the pathogen and limited data on this bacterium and its close relatives."

On August 26, the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) released a statement on the disease confirmations and noted that "this plant disease presents no health risks to people or animals, and there is no evidence of adverse impact on corn yield or quality from this plant disease."

SYMPTOMS

Along with its mysterious entrance into the Corn Belt, bacterial leaf streak will likely be difficult for growers to identify, Jackson-Ziems noted.