Disease

Common Banana in Danger of Being Wiped Out

Although there are about 1,000 different varieties of banana, almost all that are cultivated for export is of the type called the Cavendish, sometimes called the table banana. It’s long, slender, and thick-skinned, and sold in most supermarkets in Western countries.

But a fungal disease currently spreading across banana plantations is threatening to wipe out the Cavendish crop.

Known by scientists as the Tropical Race 4 (TR4) strain of Fusarium wilt, and commonly called the Panama disease, the disease first appeared in Taiwan, and has since spread to much of Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and even Australia.

The United States, which produces very little of its own banana consumption, imported 4.35 million metric tons of the fruit in 2012 (about 31 pounds per person), mainly from Latin America.

A disease outbreak there would mean no more bananas for Americans and others who import the ubiquitous Cavendish.

Currently, there are no known treatments for the disease.

Researchers think that the disease is spread through workers who carry the pathogen after working in contaminated fields.