Geographical distributionof Sigatoka leaf spots
Yellow Sigatoka disease was first observed in Java in 1902 and in Fiji in 1913 (Meredith, 1970). In 1924 it began to cause serious losses in Australia, and in 1928 was detected in Sri Lanka. In 1933 reports of its presence came from various areas in Africa, Asia and the Americas (Stover, 1962), and after its first report in the Americas in 1934, serious epidemics developed. The means by which the disease spread globally is still uncertain, but it has been suggested that the disease was carried from Java to Fiji in banana leaves used to pack produce for inter-island transport (Stover, 1962). The first reported outbreaks in Africa were in Uganda and Tanzania in the late 1930s. Meanwhile, outbreaks in the Americas were detected almost simultaneously at locations thousands of miles apart: in Trinidad and Surinam in 1934, and within a year in most of Central and South America and the Caribbean Islands (Stover, 1962). This disease is endemic almost everywhere bananas are grown.
Black Sigatoka (also known as black leaf streak), was first identified in Fiji in 1964 (Meredith & Lawrence, 1970; Rhodes, 1964). After its discovery in Honduras in 1972, serious epidemics developed throughout Central America. Subsequently the disease has been found in Mexico and throughout Central America (1979-1980), Colombia (1981), and Ecuador (Stover & Simmonds, 1987). Recent reports also suggest that the disease is now also in Venezuela. In Africa the disease was first reported from Zambia in 1974 (Raemakers, 1975), although this report is now disputed by the International Mycological Institute, UK (J. Waller, CAB IMI, personal communication, 1992). It has since been reported throughout West, Central and East Africa, eg. in Gabon in 1979, Burundi and Rwanda in 1986, Tanzania (Zanzibar) in 1987 (Dabek & Akers, 1990; Waller, 1981), Malawi (Ploetz et al., 1992), Kenya 1988 (Kung'u et al., 1992), and Uganda (Tushemereirwe & Waller, 1993).
Although black Sigatoka is still thought to be absent from most of the Caribbean islands, recent records of its presence in Cuba (Vidal, 1992), Jamaica (1995) and the Dominican Republic (David Jones, personal communication), suggest that its distribution is continuing to widen. The distribution of black Sigatoka in SE Asia and the Pacific is, however, uncertain. Jones (1990) recently visited several countries in South East Asia to collect diseased material, and observed symptoms of black Sigatoka in the Philippines, but not in Java, Western Malaysia and Thailand. This is contrary to published information which suggests that black Sigatoka is widespread in these areas. The most recent description of the distribution is given by Mourichon and Fullerton (1990).
Figure 3 Distribution of black and yellow Sigatoka. Dates are first report of black Sigatoka in a country or region. Updated from Mourichon & Fullerton, 1990.
