Early PCR detection of cocoa swollen shoot virus in the soubré region of Côte d’Ivoire

Cocoa Swollen Shoot Disease (CSSD) is one of the most destructive viral diseases affecting cocoa production in West Africa, causing substantial yield losses. The current management strategy relies on an integrated approach involving the removal of symptomatic cocoa trees together with asymptomatic trees located within a predefined radius around infection foci, followed by replanting with resistant planting material. Despite this control strategy, reinfection of replanted fields continues to occur. The present study aimed to determine the infection status of asymptomatic cocoa trees surrounding Cocoa Swollen Shoot Disease infection foci. Genomic DNA was extracted from three different regions of cocoa leaves to optimize virus detection. Molecular analyses based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were then performed to assess the sanitary status of asymptomatic cocoa trees located around infection foci. The results showed that leaf samples collected from the basal region yielded a higher number of PCR-positive detections than samples collected from the other leaf regions. Furthermore, infected asymptomatic cocoa trees were detected at distances exceeding 18 m from the infection foci, beyond the currently recommended eradication radius for asymptomatic trees. These findings reveal limitations in the current Cocoa Swollen Shoot Disease management strategy. The presence of infected cocoa trees beyond the recommended eradication zone represents a potential source of continued virus spread. Therefore, the implementation of early molecular detection tools could substantially improve the effectiveness of Cocoa Swollen Shoot Disease management.

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This work is licensed under CC-BY 4.0

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.33545/26646501.2026.v8.i7a.167

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