In the past years, an increased severity of bacterial blight with regionally serious outbreaks was observed in Africa (Boher and Agbobli, 1992, Porto et al., 1994, Wydra and Msikita, 1998 and Banito et al., 2001). Due to the systemic nature of the disease, movement of infected cuttings contributes to the outbreak of epidemics in vast areas, and losses of planting material due to dieback and poor germination after planting are part of the impact of the disease. Maraite (1993) described the diverse symptoms evoked by X. campestris pv. manihotis.