Killing the Oak Wilt Fungus in Logs

Several countries will not import oak logs from the United States for fear of introducing the oak wilt disease organism Ceratocystis fagacearum (Bretz) Hunt. Treatments to kill the organism in logs from infected trees may allow less stringent restrictions on the oak export trade. Three foot-long bolts cut from artificially inoculated red, black, and scarlet oak trees were heated by raising the temperature of the air surrounding the bolts or by immersing the bolts in hot water. Hot air tests included all combinations of 38, 43, 49, and 54? C temperatures and 24, 48, 72, and 96- hour treatment periods. Hot water tests included all combinations of the same temperatures and 6, 12, 24, and 72-hour treatment periods. Some minimum time-temperature combinations that killed all of the fungus in oak bolts were, for hot air: 24 hours at 54? C or 48 hours at 43? C, and for hot water: 12 hours at 49? C or 48 hours at 43? C.

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