An unreported disease of garlic was observed in commercial fields in Jiangsu province, China. The symptoms started as water soaked lesions at the base of the leaves. Later, water-soaked areas developed on stems and spread to the internal tissues, followed by yellowing and necrosis along leaf edges and soft rot of the stems. The causal organism isolated from symptomatic plants was identified as Pseudomonas fluorescens based on its biochemical and physiological characteristics and confirmed by the cellular fatty acid composition and Biolog data as well as 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. The bacterial isolates caused similar symptoms when inoculated onto garlic plants. In addition, leek and shallot were susceptible to the P. fluorescens pathogen. However, the P. fluorescens pathogen failed to cause any symptoms when it was inoculated onto 15 other plants. This is the first report of a bacterial disease of garlic caused by P. fluorescens in China.