Federal and state officials recently expanded the area quarantined for citrus greening disease, also known as huanglongbing or HLB, in California. They expanded the quarantined area in the San Clemente area of Orange and San Diego counties by 81 square miles. The action was taken by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) in cooperation with the California Department of Food and Agriculture.
The quarantine was expanded because of a citrus greening detection in a plant tissue sample collected from a residential property in Orange County. There are 2 acres of commercial citrus impacted by this expansion.
APHIS is applying safeguarding measures pertaining to the interstate movement of regulated articles from the quarantined areas in California. This action is necessary to prevent the spread of citrus greening to non-infested areas of the United States.
The APHIS Citrus Greening web page contains specific changes to the quarantined areas in California. The web page reports that citrus greening is a bacterial infection of citrus plants. It is one of the most serious citrus diseases in the world. Once infected, most trees die within a few years. There is no cure. While the disease poses no health threat to people or animals, it 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 (Diaphorina citri). Infected trees produce fruits that are poorly colored, possibly lopsided and bitter. This fruit can only be sold for juicing. Citrus greening is currently found throughout Georgia, Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. It is also found in portions of Alabama, California, Louisiana, South Carolina and Texas.
Source: APHIS
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