A paper by Hale, Mamuya and Singh (2013) has just been published in Plant Disease which confirms and documents the presence of three Sr31 virulent races of stem rust in Tanzania. The three races – TTKSK, TTKST, TTTSK – are all members of the Ug99 race group and all three races are previously known from neighbouring Kenya. This study confirms and details the initial findings posted in April 2011. All samples described in the study were collected in 2009, although there are some indications that Sr31 virulence may have been present in Tanzania since at least 2006. The authors recommend that future surveys and systematic race monitoring efforts should be undertaken in Tanzania.