Comparison of different detection methods for minimizing sampling efforts for the surveillance of Xylella fastidiosa

Poster presented during the 4th European conference on Xylella fastidiosa, Lyon FR, 19-20 August 2023. https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/events/4th-european-conference-xylella-fastidiosa-researching-sustainable-solutions 

Abstract: Since 2017, EFSA assists EU Member States in the preparation, design and reporting of statistically sound and risk-based surveys of Xylella fastidiosa through a pest survey card and specific survey guidelines. One of the core sections included in X. fastidiosa pest survey card is how to detect and identify the pest to set the overall method sensitivity. This measure is a key parameter in the survey design, and it is an estimation resulting from sampling effectiveness and diagnostic sensitivity. The method sensitivity can be increased by selecting and integrating a set of different detection and identification methods to be applied in the field and in the laboratory. In fact, the success of X. fastidiosa detection and identification depends on the combination of visual examination, sampling and testing of plant material. Remote sensing and hyperspectral imaging techniques can reveal risk areas for focussing visual examination of symptoms on host plants. In the identified risk area, plant samples can then be collected from both symptomatic and asymptomatic host plants: this would improve the performance of the detection compared to a fully randomised sampling of plant material. The samples are eventually tested in the laboratory following validated molecular and serological tests. This poster will provide examples and comparisons of combinations of different detection and identification methods to choose the one with the highest method sensitivity for X. fastidiosa surveys.