Last week, sudden oak death, was confirmed to have infected two oak trees at the National AIDS Memorial Grove. Sudden oak death, also known as the pathogen , has been disasterous in the west coast, killing tens of thousands of oaks throughout California and Oregon.

This is the first sign of sudden oak death in San Francisco, so the country county is now subject to federal and state quarantines. For all those SFist readers, if you're into landscaping, you might want to check in with your local nursery to make sure they're inspecting all trees that can be potential hosts.

To prevent against spread of the disease from the AIDS Memorial Grove, located in Golden Gate Park, park officials will be educating visitors about the importance not removing material from the park. SFist hopes that this won't hurt visitation to the AIDS memorial, but be sure to clean off your shoes, bike tires or pets paws when you visit.

More information on sudden oak death can be found at the Califonia Oak Mortality Task Force.

Phytophthora ramorum