Identification and incidence of virus diseases of Capsicum annuum in the Lusaka Province of Zambia

Commercial capsicum fields in Lusaka Province were surveyed for the presence of viruses during 1996‐01/06. The survey demonstrated the occurrence of five viruses in 13 fields. Virus identification was based on field disease syndrome, host range studies, DAS‐ELISA and electron microscopy. The identified viruses were alfalfa mosaic alfamovirus (AMV), potato Y potyvirus (PVY), tobacco mosaic tobamovirus (TMV), cucumber mosaic cucumovirus (CMV) and pepper mild mottle tobamovirus (PMMV). The most prevalent and widespread virus, recovered from 70% of the surveyed fields, was AMV, and this was followed by PVY and TMV, which were detected in 50% and 40% of the fields respectively. CMV and PMMV were less common and occurred in 30% of fields. The study also showed that PVY could infect capsicum plants alone or in combination with CMV or TMV. The average plant infections caused by AMV was 80–100% and by TMV and PVY 50% and 60% respectively. The disease incidence in the case of CMV was 15–60% and for PMMV 30–40%. This is a first report on the identification of viruses that infect capsicum in Zambia.