Brussels - Brussels called for "complete vigilance" Monday to stop the spread of a strain of bacteria killing olive trees in southern Italy, the European Union's second biggest producer of olive oil.
EU Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis said he would travel to Italy soon to study the effectiveness of measures to halt the epidemic of xylella fastidiosa, which emerged in 2013 and also threatens citrus fruit and vineyards.
Italy has marked off an emergency area of 593 000 acres in the southern Puglia region that is affected by the disease, which causes the trees to wither away and for which there is so far no remedy.