Wildfire is a major disease affecting tobacco production in Malawi. It is caused by Pseudomonas syringae pv tabaci, a pathogen that is known to have several races throughout the world. However, it is not clear which races are predominant in Malawi, a factor that makes it difficult to have meaningful breeding programmes for wildfire resistant tobacco varieties. A trial was therefore conducted in 2002/2003 to 2004/2005 seasons at Kandiya Research station in Malawi to determine the races of wildfire (Pseudomonas syringae pv tabaci Tox+) available in the country. Wildfire isolates were collected from tobacco farmers throughout the country and inoculated on eight-week-old plants of four standard indicator cultivars grown in a screen house. The four cultivars used were: KE-1 (susceptible to all races), K35 (resistance to races 0 and 1) KM10 (resistance to race 0) and WZ (resistance to races 0 and 1). The trial was laid out in a Completely Randomized Design. A suspension of the wildfire isolate was inoculated on each indicator plant by spraying 25 mls on leaves of each plant that was bruised by clipping. The incidence and severity of wildfire was assessed at 7 and 14 days from inoculation. The results show that wildfire Race 1 is prevalent in Malawi while Races 0 and 2 are not. This means our wildfire chemical control programmes and breeding for resistance to wildfire in Malawi should target race 1.