HONOLULU (KHON2) — Researchers from the University of Hawaii have discovered two new viruses infecting hibiscus plants on Oahu.

The UH College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources said after they analyzed hibiscus samples collected in Honolulu they found that some of the flowers had hibiscus betacarmovirus and hibiscus soymovirus.

A plant pathologist with the UH Manoa Department of Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences said early findings have indicated that these viruses are a possible threat to the state plant. However, more testing needs to be done to confirm if the virus threatens the survival of hibiscus.

“We plan to do more virus surveys including testing the mother plants at the propagation (the breeding of specimens) site,” said Plant Pathologist John Hu.

UH said the samples were taken from 18 locations on its campus and a variety of sites from Diamond Head to downtown. Twenty-two percent of the samples were positive for at least one of the viruses.