PORTLAND — Sudden oak death syndrome has surfaced in plants at a Washington County wholesale nursery, the latest sign that the plant disease has infiltrated Oregon’s $778 million nursery industry.

Officials at Hines Horticulture in Forest Grove said they had stopped shipping plants susceptible to sudden oak death after tests confirmed the presence of the plant disease in rhododendrons.<

Hines, a publicly held company, ships plants nationwide to independent garden centers and chain stores, including Home Depot, Lowe’s, Wal-Mart and Target.

Oregon officials are still trying to determine whether any infected plants may have been shipped out.

In a statement, Hines officials said company records indicate that "a minimal number of customer stores have received these plants."

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Cam Sivesind, a spokesman for the Oregon Association of Nurseries said the problem at Hines should not trigger a quarantine of Oregon-grown products.

Known for harming certain oak species, the fungal disease also can infect about 60 varieties of trees and shrubs. Sudden oak death also causes leaf blight and dieback.

Until recently, sudden oak death had never turned up at an Oregon plant nursery. Then, in June, growers in Columbia County briefly were barred from shipping products when the fungus was found at a nursery there.

In response, Oregon’s nursery industry pushed for a more rigorous plant inspection and certification program. All Oregon growers and dealers selling plants vulnerable to sudden oak death now are required to have their plants tested and certified annually as free of the disease.