Since the 2010s, a new outbreak of Panama disease caused by the strain Tropical Race 4 (TR4) has threatened the production of the Cavendish banana, today's most popular cultivar.

[5] The disease didn't attract widespread attention until the early 20th century when it began heavily affecting banana cultivations in Panama and Costa Rica.

Some indication of the scale of the losses is demonstrated by the complete eradication of production on 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) of plantation in the Ulua Valley of Honduras between 1940 and 1960.

[8][4] For a time these cultivars did prove resilient and grew well, and in some areas remain the clones on which the current export trade is based.

[5] It is anticipated by experts that disease surveillance, integrated pest management, breeding of resistant cultivars, and genetic engineering will yield worthwhile results.

[12] To make things worse, this variant of the pathogen also affects plantains (Musa acuminata × balbisiana) which are an important staple food in tropical regions of the world.

[5] The average American eats 26.2 pounds (11.9 kg) of the Cavendish banana each year, and the question is being asked as to whether this oft-consumed fruit is on course to extinction.

[16] In August 2019, TR4 arrived in Colombia, a country in Latin America, the region comprising the world's biggest banana exporters.

Externally, the oldest leaves start turning yellow and there is often a longitudinal splitting of the lower part of the outer leaf sheaths on the pseudostem.

cubense (Foc) is a member of the Fusarium oxysporum species complex, a group of ascomycete fungi with morphological similarities.

Tropical Race 1/TR1 is also found in Paspalum fasciculatum, Panicum purpurescens, Ixophorus unisetus, and Commelina diffusa in Central America.

Being triploid, the fruit contains no seeds, and the male flower does not produce pollen suitable for pollination, prohibiting sexual reproduction.

There is an increase in the number of symptomatic plants when inflorescences emerge and the highest disease incidence occurs right before harvest.

[4] The Gros Michel was the only type of banana eaten in the United States from the late 19th century until after World War II.

Over several decades, the fungus spread from Panama to neighboring countries, moving north through Costa Rica to Guatemala and south into Colombia and Ecuador.

[49] In July 2013, members of OIRSA, a Latin American regional organisation for plant and animal health, produced a contingency plan specific to TR4 for its nine member countries (Belize, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Panama).

[50] In March 2015, Latin America growers met to create a regional defense effort and planned to meet again in September or October of that year.

However, the resulting fruit also needs to taste good, ripen in a predictable amount of time, travel long distances undamaged, and be easy to grow in great quantities.

In Queensland, a farm in Tully, 1,500 kilometres (900 mi) north of Brisbane, was quarantined and some plants were destroyed after TR4 was detected on March 3, 2015.

After an initial shutdown of the infected farm, truckloads of fruit left in April with harvesting allowed to resume under strict biosecurity arrangements.

Researchers like Gert Kema, based at Wageningen University, The Netherlands, say the disease will continue to spread, despite efforts to contain it, as long as susceptible varieties are being grown.

[54] In August 2019, authorities in Colombia declared a national emergency after confirming that Panama disease had reached Latin America.

[8] Chemical sterilisation of the soil with methyl bromide significantly reduced incidence of the disease but was found to be effective for only three years after which the pathogen had recolonised the fumigated areas.

[5] The greatest hope for managing this disease in infested soils is the development of genetic modifications that will provide resistant cultivars.

[58] Modified bananas developed in collaboration by Ugandan and Belgian scientists were reported in 2008 to be grown experimentally in Uganda.

[59] In Australia the movement, sharing, and sale of propagation material is heavily restricted, especially between states, to slow down the combined threat of TR4, Bunchy Top, and leaf spot.

[41] Several bacterially-derived volatile organic compounds have been found by Yuan et al 2012 to be selectively toxic to Foc: Various alkylated benzenes, various phenols, various naphthalenes, benzothiazole, 2-ethyl-1-hexanol, 2-undecanol, 2-nonanone, 2-decanone, 2-undecanone, nonanal, and decanal.

[61] Currently, fungicides and other chemical and biological control agents have proven fairly unsuccessful, or only successful in vitro or in greenhouses, in the face of Panama disease of bananas.

However, the most effective tool against Panama disease is the development of banana plants resistant to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp.

In 2017, a disease-resistance gene (RGA2) was transformed into Cavendish bananas which showed disease resistance to Fusarium wilt tropical race 4.