Animal and Plant Diseases and Pests of Concern

Last Modified: May 11, 2026

Section 12203(b) of the 2018 Farm Bill required APHIS to develop a list of pests and diseases that pose the most significant threat to U.S. agriculture. This section of the Farm Bill codifies many activities that APHIS already performs, including developing and exercising emergency response plans.

APHIS used its experience and the latest science to identify 59 pests and diseases that present the greatest risk to U.S. agriculture. This list helps inform our work in prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery.

Whether a pest or disease appears on this list does not limit APHIS’ actions. If a new threat emerges—even one not included here—APHIS will take appropriate actions to protect U.S. plant and animal health.

List of Animal and Plant Diseases and Pests of Concern

Animal Diseases and Pests

Common Name	Scientific Name/Causative Agent
African swine fever	African swine fever virus
Classical swine fever	Classical swine fever virus
Foot-and-mouth disease	Foot-and-mouth disease virus
Highly pathogenic avian influenza	Avian influenza virus
Low pathogenicity avian influenza (H5 and H7 subtypes)	Avian influenza virus
New World screwworm	Cochliomyia hominivorax
Rift Valley fever	Rift Valley fever virus
Virulent Newcastle disease	Newcastle disease virus

Plant Diseases and Pests

Common Name	Scientific Name/Causative Agent
Alder root and collar rot	Phytophthora alni
Almond witches' broom	Candidatus Phytoplasma phoenicium 16SrIX-B
Apple proliferation	Candidatus Phytoplasma mali 16SrX-A
Ash dieback	Hymenoscyphus fraxineus
Asiatic rice borer	Chilo suppressalis
Australian grapevine yellows	Candidatus Phytoplasma australiense 16SrXII-B
Bacterial blight	Xanthomonas oryzaepv. oryzae
Bacterial leaf streak	Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzicola
Bacterial wilt	Ralstonia solanacearum race 3 biovar 2
Beech bleeding canker	Phytophthora kernoviae
Black maize beetle	Heteronychus arator
Bois noir; Stolbur	Candidatus Phytoplasma solani 16SrXII-A
Christmas berry webworm	Cryptoblabes gnidiella
Citrus longhorned beetle	Anoplophora chinensis
Coconut cadang-cadang	Cocadviroid Coconut cadang-cadang viroid
Cotton cutworm	Spodoptera litura
Cotton seed bug	Oxycarenus hyalinipennis
Cucumber green mottle mosaic	Tobamovirus
Cucurbit beetle	Diabrotica speciosa
European stone fruit yellows	Candidatus Phytoplasma prunorum 16SrX-F
False codling moth	Thaumatotibia leucotreta
Flavescence dorée	Candidatus Phytoplasma vitis 16SrV-C
Groundnut bud necrosis	Orthotospovirus
Guatemalan potato moth	Tecia solanivora
Japanese oak wilt	Raffaelea quercivora
Japanese wax scale	Ceroplastes japonicus
Java downy mildew	Peronosclerospora maydis
Khapra beetle	Trogoderma granarium
Late wilt of corn	Magnaporthiopsis maydis
Masson pine moth	Dendrolimus punctatus
No common name, an ambrosia beetle	Megaplatypus mutatus
Oak ambrosia beetle	Platypus quercivorus
Oak processionary moth	Thaumetopoea processionea
Oak splendour beetle	Agrilus biguttatus
Old world bollworm	Helicoverpa armigera
Palm lethal yellowing	Candidatus Phytoplasma palmae 16Sr-IV
Philippine downy mildew	Peronosclerospora philippinensis
Pine processionary moth	Thaumetopoea pityocampa
Pine-tree lappet	Dendrolimus pini
Potato wart	Synchytrium endobioticum
Red ring nematode	Bursaphelenchus cocophilus
Rotbrenner	Pseudopezicula tracheiphila
Scots pine blister rust	Cronartium flaccidum
Siberian silk moth	Dendrolimus sibiricus
Silver Y moth	Autographa gamma
Small brown planthopper	Laodelphax striatellus
South American palm borer	Paysandisia archon
Sunn pest	Eurygaster integriceps
Tomato fruit borer	Neoleucinodes elegantalis
Tomato leafminer	Tuta absoluta
Wheat seed gall nematode	Anguina tritici

Updating the List

APHIS reviews this list annually and updates it as needed. We welcome your feedback at any time.

Email us at aphispestdiseaselist@usda.gov. If suggesting additions or changes, please provide references or documentation on how the pest or disease meets the definition of “likely to pose a significant risk to the food and agriculture critical infrastructure.”
Submit Suggestions

Other Pest and Disease Lists Maintained by APHIS

The List of Animal and Plant Diseases and Pests of Concern differs from the following lists:

Veterinary Services maintains a list of foreign animal diseases and pests based on risk and consequences of introduction into the United States. This list is used to guide APHIS preparedness and response activities.

The National List of Reportable Animal Diseases (NLRAD), agreed upon by State and Federal partners, ensures standardized reporting and information sharing for various animal diseases. The diseases are divided into two categories: notifiable diseases and conditions and monitored diseases.

The National Priority Pest List presents the national priorities for pest detection surveys conducted under the Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey program. The Animal and Plant Diseases and Pests of Concern list is a subset of the National Priority Pest List.

This list includes those pests that Plant Protection and Quarantine regulates under the authority of the Plant Protection Act.