Rice bacterial leaf blight first becomes evident as water-soaked streaks that spread from the leaf tips and margins, becoming larger and eventually releasing a milky ooze that dries into yellow droplets. Characteristic grayish-white lesions then appear on the leaves, signaling the late stages of infection, when leaves dry out and die. In seedlings, the leaves dry out and wilt, a syndrome known as kresek. Infected seedlings usually are killed by bacterial blight within two to three weeks of being infected; adult plants may survive, though rice yield and quality are diminished. On older plants, the leaves show pale yellow steaks with wavy margins going from the tips towards the base, dry up and die. Later infection, at the booting stage, does not affect yield, but results in poor quality of rice.