SHANGHAI, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Inspection and quarantine authorities in Shanghai have intercepted pine wood nematodes, a species of roundworm, in the wooden packaging of imports from Britain.

It is the first time that authorities have intercepted the pests in British imports, according to the Shanghai Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau.

The imported items were 719.6-kg car wheel hubs and tailgates valued at 11,400 U.S. dollars. The wooden packaging, which tested positive for the nematodes, has been destroyed.

Pine wood nematodes originate in North America. They can infect pine trees and cause pine wilt disease.

In 2000, pine wood nematodes at Shanghai's Sheshan Mountain caused many of the 20,000 black pines grown there since the 1960s to die.