A viral disease of broad bean (Vicia faba) was observed in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Sichuan Province, the People's Republic of China. Its typical symptom on infected leaves was a white mottle, and, rarely, red necrotic lesions on several broad bean cultivars. A non-aphid-transmissible strain of turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) was identified as the causal agent of the disease on the basis of biological properties, particle morphology, seed and aphid transmission and serological tests. The virus could not be transmitted by aphids in the non-persistent manner.