Photo by U.S. Department of Agriculture
Federal and Texas agriculture officials announced on April 26 they were establishing four new quarantined areas for citrus canker in Hidalgo County and expanding one existing canker quarantined area in Cameron County.
The actions by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) and the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) were taken to prevent the spread of the disease.
This action is necessary because USDA APHIS confirmed the positive identification of citrus canker in citrus trees from residential areas in the Hidalgo, McAllen, Pharr and San Juan areas of Hidalgo County leading to new quarantined areas in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV). In addition, further detections of confirmed positive citrus canker in residential areas have expanded the quarantined area in the Rancho Viejo area of Cameron County in the LRGV.
TDA has established intrastate quarantined areas for citrus canker that parallel the federal citrus canker regulatory requirement.
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 transported in accordance with regulations may move from areas quarantined for citrus canker.
The establishment of these quarantined areas is reflected on the APHIS citrus canker webpage, which also contains a description of all the current federal citrus canker quarantined areas. USDA APHIS will publish a notice of this change in the Federal Register.
Additional information may be obtained from USDA APHIS National Policy Manager Abby Stilwell
by email at abby.r.stilwell@usda.gov or by phone at 919-323-6296.
Learn about other recent citrus canker quarantine actions in Texas here.
Source: USDA APHIS
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