Federal and Texas agriculture officials announced they are establishing four new quarantine areas for citrus canker in Brazoria and Harris counties, Texas. They are also expanding three existing quarantine areas for citrus canker in Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston and Harris counties. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) and the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) are taking the actions to prevent spread of the disease.
The actions are necessary because APHIS confirmed the positive identification of citrus canker in citrus trees from residential areas in the Rosharon area of Brazoria County and the Kingwood, Lincoln Park, and Northwest Houston areas of Harris County. In addition, further detections of confirmed positive citrus canker in residential areas have expanded the quarantine areas in the Sugarland area of Fort Bend County, the Pearland area of Brazoria, Fort Bend and Harris counties, and the Friendswood area of Galveston County. With the expansion of the quarantine area in the Pearland area, TDA merged the citrus canker quarantine boundaries of the Shadow Creek, Silver Lake and South Fork areas into the Pearland area quarantine that expands across portions of Brazoria, Fort Bend and Harris counties.
TDA has established an intrastate quarantine area for citrus canker that parallels the federal citrus canker regulatory requirements. 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 handled in accordance with regulations may move from areas quarantined for citrus canker.
The establishment of the quarantine areas is reflected on the APHIS Citrus Canker webpage, which also contains a description of all the current federal citrus canker quarantine areas.
Additional information may be obtained from APHIS National Policy Manager Abby R. Stilwell.
Source: USDA APHIS
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