The City of Edmonton has confirmed a single tree in both the Downtown and Rossdale neighbourhoods tested positive for Dutch elm disease (DED), marking 16 confirmed cases since 2024.<\/p>\n
The trees were in decline and identified through a visual inspection, the city said in a Wednesday news release. It has been “proactively removed as part of ongoing efforts to contain the spread” of the disease.<\/p>\n
Both trees were within one kilometre of an established DED protocol zone, and displayed signs of the disease that were identified by city crews.<\/p>\n
Test results confirmed the presence of DED, and both trees were removed as part of ongoing efforts to contain its spread.<\/p>\n
The established DED protocol zones are in areas where the disease has been confirmed to allow for heightened monitoring, assessments and tree maintenance.<\/p>\n
DED is a contagious fungal infection that poses a significant risk to both the infected trees and all surrounding elm trees. The city’s approach involves the swift removal of both infected and adjacent elms, as well as a consistent and precise pruning program that removes deadwood from elms, which act as habitats for the beetles that spread the fungus. The city also monitors and assesses elm trees within a one-kilometre radius of the infected tree.<\/p>\n
Elm trees make up nearly 22 per cent of Edmonton’s boulevard and open-space trees, with an estimated population of around 90,000 trees. The city has conducted 185,510 visual surveys and submitted 57 samples for testing this year.<\/p>\n
Disposal of all removed elms occurs at the Edmonton Waste Management Centre in accordance with special handling procedures for elm wood.<\/p>\n
While the city enacts measures to reduce potential infection, it is asking residents to take a few simple actions to help stop the spread.<\/p>\n
Residents are asked not to bring in or use any firewood from outside of Edmonton and instead “burn it where you buy it,” since that is the most common way beetles carrying Dutch elm disease are brought to the city.<\/p>\n
Related<\/p>\n
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