Federal and state officials have expanded the quarantine for huanglongbing (HLB, also known as citrus greening disease) in the Mission Viejo area of California’s Orange County. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), in cooperation with the California Department of Food and Agriculture, expanded the quarantine by 13.16 square miles.
The expansion was in response to HLB detections in plant tissue samples collected from residential properties in Orange County. No commercial citrus is impacted by this expansion.
APHIS is applying safeguarding measures on the interstate movement of regulated articles from the quarantined areas in California. Those measures are necessary to prevent the spread of HLB to non-infested areas of the United States.
The specific changes to the quarantined areas in California can be found on the APHIS Citrus Greening website. APHIS will publish a notice of this change in the Federal Register.
According to APHIS, HLB is one of the most serious citrus diseases in the world. Once infected, most trees die within a few years. There is no cure. The disease has devastated millions of acres of citrus crops throughout the United States and abroad.
In the United States, citrus greening is spread by a tiny insect called the Asian citrus psyllid (ACP). Infected trees produce fruits that are poorly colored, possibly lopsided and bitter. This fruit can only be sold for juicing.
APHIS offers these tips to identify ACP:
- Eggs are yellow-orange and almond-shaped. They are often tucked inside crevices and leaf folds.
- Nymphs are difficult to see, but leave behind waxy, white excretions on plants.
- Adult psyllids are gnat-sized, only about 1/8-inch long. When approached, they jump or fly.
- Adults have three abdominal colors: blue-green, gray-brown or orange-yellow.
- Adults have mottled brown wings, and the last two segments of their antennae are black.
Source: APHIS
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