So, there are some myths I can dispel:
RMV does not kill plants, affect the vigor of plants, or reduce the size or quantity of blooms. People say it sometimes does this, but I suspect something else was the cause, because I have dozens of roses with RMV, most of them for at least 20 years, and it hasn't had this effect on them. I have some duplicates, and there's no difference whatsoever in the quality of the virused and non-virused plants.
RMV does not spread to other roses. Scientists have conducted experiments to try to spread RMV from one rose to another, and they have always failed. RMV is only spread by cuttings. If you take a cutting from an affected rose, the plant that grows from that cutting will have RMV.
RMV is not confined to modern roses or to roses on this continent. Roses from Europe can also have RMV and there's an impressive list of OGR's that don't exist in non-virused form. Rose de Rescht is probably the most frequently cited example. No one has a non-virused Rose de Rescht.
So, unless you insist on perfect foliage, there's no reason to dig up and discard a rose with RMV.
