Luxembourg is the northernmost country in Europe where the bacteria has been detected, Agriculture Minister Martine Hansen said. She acknowledged that such a situation cannot be fully anticipated, but said all necessary measures are under way.
Fire blight affects many plant species, including grapevines, which can dry out and die. This year's exceptionally hot summer made it hard to tell drought-stressed vines from infected ones.
The outbreak was identified during routine sampling, when three of 140 samples tested positive last week. Work to remove the infected vines, some of them 30 years old, began on Monday morning.
Hansen met local winegrowers ahead of the work. "Winegrowers recognise that these measures are necessary. It is a regulation imposed by the European Union, but naturally everyone is anxious", she said. New samples are being taken in the buffer zone, and further positive cases could threaten the existence of some wineries. "That would be terrible", she added.
The buffer zone extends 2.5km from the initial detection site. All vines within 50 metres must be removed, and intensive sampling is under way within 400 metres to check for further spread.
Serge Fischer, director of the Institut viti-vinicole, said colder winter temperatures make the situation more manageable, because the insect that spreads the bacteria is inactive at this time of year. That gives authorities and growers time to plan their next steps.
The state will cover the cost of the removal. The land must then stay fallow for at least a year before replanting.
Hansen said it is too early to say how winegrowers will be compensated, as calculations are still ongoing. Officials are also discussing replacement vineyards, though suitable sites would first have to be found. She stressed there are no concerns about grapes already harvested from infected vines.
Luxembourg is in close contact with German authorities, who have stepped up their own sampling. Results may take at least three weeks, so the full picture will not be clear for some time.
