Please Help - Shrub infested/infected and in trouble!

So, is this a pest, maybe scale? Or some kind of mildew? And what do I treat it with? I've been recoving from foot surgery and stuck inside for almost 4 weeks so I'm not sure when this started, but it's bad now - nearly all the branches of this shrub (some kind of mock cherry or something - can't remember the name) are covered and the leaves are drying up and falling off. Honestly I was shocked when I saw how badly the branches are covered.

Wish I could get a better close up but my camera blurs on close ups. The "stuff" is white, and fuzzy looking but is make up of little individual things that kind of look like microscopic fuzzy peices of lint. Each is rice shaped. I see no movement of any of them. I'm thinking it's scale, but I'm not certain. I had a scale infestation many years ago on a shrub but they looked more, well, scaley. Any ideas, and also what to treat with or if it looks too far gone for treatment? I'm so bummed - you take a month off from the garden and look what happenes :( I'm honestly not even sure I'll be able to treat it as I'm still in a cast and on crutches.

Looks like mealy bugs or wooly apple aphid. Not sure what kind of shrub but most likely mealy bugs. Spray with a strong jet of water. If that doesnt get them try a soap/oil mixture if the water alone doesn't do the job. Mix 1 tsp. insecticidal soap, 1/2 tsp. horticultural oil, and 1 quart water in a spray bottle.

Thanks for the info. I've scraped some off and looked at them with a magnifying glass - I see no features that identify them as a bug, meaning there are no visible legs, no mouth parts, nothing - they just look like whitish beige rice shaped fibers connected by cottony strands. They don't seem to move at all. Whatever they are, they are heavily covering nearly every branch :( I also figured out the shrub is a cherry laurel. I think I will remove it since even with pruning it's gotten a bit big for the space, and treat the area where it was with insecticidal soap to try to kill off any that are disturbed during the removal (I'll also put some drop cloths down). I have a lovely, expensive little jap maple and some azaleas next to this shrub and I want to be sure these nasty little critters don't travel over to them.

Woohoo - I get to try to remove a 4 foot shrub while in a cast and on crutches! I do have one of those knee walkers/scooters - maybe I can hook the shrub up to it and pull it out using my scooter like a pick up truck :)

could be white mold fungal disease

Actually, those are definitely scale insects, similar to Euonymus or tea scale. I am 100% sure of this because I deal with stuff like this on a daily basis. If you put an affected stem or leaf in a baggy and squish the insects with your fingernail, the ones that are still alive will turn yellow (because of the color of their guts dyeing the white fluff). If they don't squish yellow and they just flake off they are dead. Unfortunately the dead bugs don't fall off so the plant can look infected long after the insects have been controlled. To control scale you're either going to need horticultural oil to smother them or a systemic insecticide (like ones that contain acephate or imidicloprid). Stuff like insecticidal soap and contact sprays (like Sevin) are useless against adult scale.

https://www.google.com/search?q=euonymus+scale+stem&hl=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=5SoiUuOYAaqzsQT2wIHQCg&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1440&bih=785

I would treat it like an insect (whether scale or wooly apple aphid) and spray with a systemic.
This is a poison that enters the plant system and kills any bugs that suck on the juices of the plant.

No matter what it is (even if the dead ones cling) you will be able to tell that it is working because the white areas will not get any larger, won't spread to other parts of this plant.

If the material you use is also listed for the nearest other plants, I would treat them, too, just in case there are some baby bugs getting started on them.

If, on the other hand it is a fungus, then the systemic won't help, and you could then switch to another spray.

Insert laughing face:
If you do end up using your scooter like a truck and pulling it out, be careful the chain does not slip off and come at you!

Well I tore it out - the thing was so infested I just didn't see the point since I didn't love the plant in the first place. What a MESS! I had that crud all over me from head to toe, all over the porch, all over the ground and the tools. I was so disgusted! Cause of my foot I ended up trimming and bagging all the branches and then pulling out the root - it came out easily and that was actually one of the reasons I didn't love the plant - it didn't seem rooted too well even though it's been there for years, and was always leaning this way or that and had to be staked. I'd been thinking about replacing it all summer.

I got an insecticidal soap and an oil spray and sprayed the area and the nearby plants and am now keeping an eye on everything. Question though - I thought the oils only worked during the dormant season - no?

Each year that cherry laurel dropped seeds that sprouted and I've always stuck the seedlings in a raised bed I have nearby, so this weekend I planted a 2 foot seedling where the old one was. I'll probably put something else there later in the fall or next spring but for now it fills in the space a bit.

Thanks everyone for your help.

Horticultural oils will smother insects year round. The problem is that they can burn the plants if you use them when the weather is too hot. Some need to be diluted a lot more for use in the warm season, and can be used at a stronger rate when the plant has no leaves.

Always read the label and be very cautious about how you dilute it, and what you spray it on. Make sure the target plant is listed, and nearby plants that might be accidentally sprayed.

Good point Diana K. Oils can burn the foliage even more especially if you tank mix with products like copper or even in rotations with them.