2 years ago I purchased a clearance rose at a nursery center in Houston when driving through. A month or two later it revealed RRD on tip growth of one stem.
I freaked-out assuming it had contracted it here in Austin, but a subsequent trip to the same Houston Garden Center revealed they had a severe infestation. I have seen no infected plants within a mile of my house.
I have had no signs of the disease since, but have feared the possibility another rose could have contracted it in the short time I had the plant in my yard.
How long before I can relax and assume I am in the clear? I had never experienced the disease before, though it certainly exists in our county.
In my experience, if a rose has been infected with Rose Rosette Disease and is actively growing, it is usually expressing symptoms if the infected portions have vegetative buds. Otherwise, only roses that are temporarily dormant (either due to winter cold or summer heat and dryness) might harbor the disease without actively showing signs.
That said, a mile is not actually enough distance to avoid the spread of this disease. The mites can blow much farther on the wind than that, although the chances of an infected mite randomly landing on your rose from greater distances are obviously lower.