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A vine disease threatening New Zealand's NZ$1.4 billion ($1.1 billion) kiwifruit industry may have affected as many as 18 orchards, the government said, confirming that a second North Island orchard has the infection.

The government has placed entry restrictions on four orchards in the Bay of Plenty area, two of which have been infected with Pseudomonas syringae pv actinidiae, said Annie Wright, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, in an interview. The region produces 77 percent of New Zealand's kiwifruit crop, according to Zespri Group Ltd., the world's largest marketer of the fruit.

The ministry is studying images from 18 New Zealand kiwifruit orchards suspected to be showing symptoms, Wright said. The ministry put a "restricted place notice" on another orchard today, placing precautions on entering and leaving the property, she said.

"We have four restricted places notices and two confirmed as having PSA," said Wright.

New Zealand until now had remained free of the disease, which was first found in Japan more than 25 years ago and spread to Italy in the 1990s, causing millions of dollars in damages. The industry earned NZ$1.4 billion in the year ending March 31, according to Zespri.

The U.S. and Australia have stopped importing kiwifruit plant material from New Zealand until reviews of the situation are completed. The "nursery stock" material comprises plant cuttings imported for growing, and is a "very small part" of national kiwifruit exports, Helen Keyes, another spokeswoman for the ministry, said yesterday.

New Zealand is the third-biggest kiwifruit grower after China and Italy, accounting for about 21 percent of global production, according to Zespri, which cited Belrose Inc.'s World Kiwifruit Review 2010.