The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) have established five new quarantine areas for citrus canker in Brazoria, Galveston and Harris counties, Texas. They also expanded two existing quarantine areas for citrus canker in Brazoria, Fort Bend and Harris Counties, Texas, to prevent the spread of the disease.
This action is necessary because APHIS confirmed the positive identification of citrus canker in citrus trees from residential areas in the Shadow Creek, Silver Lake and South Fork areas in Brazoria County; the Friendswood area in Galveston County; and the West Houston area in Harris County. In addition, APHIS is expanding the quarantine areas in Fort Bend and Harris counties in and near Richmond, and in Brazoria and Harris counties in and near Pearland, after additional trees were confirmed positive for citrus canker during routine surveys.
Photo by Ozgur Batuman, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
TDA has established an intrastate quarantine area for citrus canker that parallels the federal citrus canker regulatory requirements specified in 7 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 301.75.
Under the current citrus canker quarantine regulations, the interstate movement of citrus plants and plant parts, other than commercially packed and disinfected citrus fruit, remains prohibited. Citrus nursery stock that is moved in accordance with regulations contained in 7 CFR 301.75-6 may move from areas quarantined for citrus canker.
The establishment of this quarantine area is reflected on the APHIS website, which also contains a description of all the current federal citrus canker quarantine areas.
Additional information regarding the citrus canker program is available from Shailaja Rabindran, director of specialty crops and cotton pests, at 301-851-2167.
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
