USDA photo by David Bartels
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) in cooperation with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) have expanded the area quarantined for sweet orange scab (SOS). The expansion is in the Irvine area of Orange County and in the La Puente area of Los Angeles County in California.
QUARANTINE ACTIONS
APHIS is expanding the quarantined area by 43 square miles in Orange County and 66 square miles in Los Angeles County. The expansion does not impact commercial citrus. The agency is taking this action because of SOS detections in plant tissue samples collected from residential properties in those counties.
APHIS is applying safeguarding measures pertaining to the interstate movement of regulated articles from the quarantined areas in California. This measure parallels the intrastate quarantines that CDFA established on April 3 and April 8. This action is necessary to prevent the spread of SOS to non-infested areas of the United States.
Prior to this expansion, the SOS quarantine in California was most recently expanded on March 11.
ABOUT THE DISEASE
SOS is a plant disease caused by the fungus Elsinöe australis. Infection causes scab pustules that give fruit a corky appearance. SOS can stunt young nursery trees or new field plantings and cause premature fruit to drop.
In the United States, SOS was first detected in 2010 in residential citrus trees in Texas. It has since been confirmed in Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi.
There is no cure or treatment for SOS, but APHIS suggests these steps to prevent it:
- Don’t move citrus trees. Moving trees is the fastest way sweet orange scab and other citrus diseases spread.
- Inspect citrus trees regularly for infection.
Get more information on the APHIS Sweet Orange Scab website. It includes federal orders, approved packinghouse procedures and a description of current quarantined areas.
Source: APHIS
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