Eve Billing (1923–2019) was a UK plant pathologist specialising in diseases of fruit trees especially fire blight caused by Erwinia amylovora bacteria.
She introduced a modelling system to predict the likelihood of outbreaks of fire blight and also methods for pathogen identification and treatment.
[1] She specialised in fire blight, a serious world-wide disease of apple, pear and some other fruit trees within the Rosaceae.
[3] She also studied the causal bacteria in detail, including the capsule that led to appreciation of the importance of biofilms in the disease process.
[1] Her work on transmission of fire blight was cited during World Trade Organisation dispute settlements over fruit imports.