The U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced June 26 that it was establishing and expanding the quarantined areas for citrus canker in Texas to prevent the spread of the disease. The action was taken in cooperation with the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA).
APHIS established a new quarantined area in the Harlingen Area of Cameron County. It expanded existing quarantined areas for citrus canker in the Rancho Viejo and Los Fresnos areas in Cameron County and the Pharr and Hidalgo areas of Hidalgo County. TDA has established intrastate quarantined areas for citrus canker that parallel the federal quarantine.
APHIS is taking this action because of citrus canker detections in plant tissue samples collected from residential properties in Cameron and Hidalgo counties in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. 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 may move from areas quarantined for citrus canker.
The APHIS Citrus Canker web page has information on this disease and descriptions of current federal citrus canker quarantined areas. The web page notes that the disease thrives in areas with high rainfall and warm temperatures. Citrus canker is found throughout Florida and in limited areas of Alabama, Louisiana and Texas.
Severely infected citrus trees may lose their leaves and prematurely drop fruit. Canker-infected fruit is safe to eat but is not marketable due to its appearance.
Additional information may be obtained from:
- Abby R. Stilwell, APHIS agriculturalist at 919-323-6296 or abby.r.stilwell@usda.gov
- Daniel Murphy, APHIS agriculturalist at 775-221-9237 or daniel.m.murphy@usda.gov
Source: APHIS
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