LONDON

French authorities have detected for the first time a microscopic worm that can kill pine trees, the Agriculture Ministry said on Tuesday.

Known as the pine wilt nematode, the organism native to North America causes trees to perish by stopping their resin from circulating, the ministry said in a statement.

"A pine nematode outbreak has just been confirmed by the ANSES (French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety) national reference laboratory, for the first time in France, in the municipality of Seignosse (Landes)," it said.

Saying that the pest is classified as a priority quarantine organism under European legislation, the ministry warned that it is likely to have a "particularly significant impact" if it were to proliferate in the territory.

"Mandatory control measures must be implemented upon detection in order to eradicate the outbreak," said the statement, mentioning that the microscopic worm, however, does not pose any risk to human or animal health.

It is transmitted from tree to tree by beetles. In the EU area, it was first detected in Portugal in 1999, and then in Spain nine years later.