Recently, WMV has been the cause of severe economic losses to crop yields of cucurbitaceous, leguminous, malvaceous and chenopodiaceous plants in temperate and Mediterranean regions.

[6] Watermelon mosaic virus is best known for causing disease in most cucurbits and some legumes, though experimentally it has been shown to have a broader host range than almost all other potyviruses.

WMV induces mosaic on Nicotiana benthamiana and chlorotic local lesions on Chenopodium amaranticolor, two of its diagnostic plant species.

[citation needed] Aphids pick up the plant virus during probing and transmit it non-persistently to other hosts for a period of time up to a few hours after contact.

Because the transmission is non-persistent, pesticides do not provide effective control of the virus unless used as a preventative measure to reduce aphid populations.

Besides the preventative use of insecticides, the application of mineral oil sprays has been shown to interfere with virus transmission and can be an effective control.