Brood Diseases

American Foul Brood (AFB) is a contagious bacterial disease, the spores of which remain infectious for over 50 years. There are a handful of cases in Maine each year now, primarily attributed to the reuse of long-stored but uninspected equipment. It is a disease that formerly had a much larger incidence in Maine, but now there are usually between two and four outbreaks per year. The State Apiarists (formerly Tony Jadzack and now Jen Lund) deserve much credit for reducing the number of incidents that have taken AFB from the feared category and placed it in the group that requires vigilance and recognition of symptoms.