Country: United States

Title: Citrus Black Spot (Guignardia citricarpa) in Polk County, Florida

Contact:
Prakash Hebbar, Citrus Health Response Program National Coordinator at (301) 851-2228 or Lynn Evans-Goldner, Citrus Disease Program, National Policy Manager at (301) 851-2286

Report: On November 16, 2012, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) confirmed that an orange fruit sample collected by Citrus Health Response Program inspectors from a commercial grove in Polk County, Florida, is positive for the fungus Guignardia citricarpa, the causal agent of citrus black spot (CBS).

On November 26, APHIS issued an Emergency Action Notification (EAN) for a 640-acre section (TRS 32S28E33) that contains the positive orange tree. There are 270 acres of citrus within the section placed under the EAN. All regulated articles from the aforementioned section are subject to the requirements outlined in the CBS Federal Order (DA-2012-09), dated March 16, 2012, and the Approved Packinghouse Procedures document, dated December 20, 2011. The Federal Order and Packinghouse Procedures can also be found on the CBS website at: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/citrus/black_spot.shtml

APHIS and State officials are surveying 1,339 acres of oranges, grapefruit, and tangelos, located within a 9-square mile area around the positive tree. To date, all fruit at the maturity level appropriate for CBS symptom detection have been surveyed and no additional symptomatic fruit were detected. All late-maturing varieties and other fruit that remain on the trees within the 9 square mile area will be surveyed as the fruit breaks color, which is estimated to be in mid-January 2013. Beginning in the fall of 2013, all citrus in the designated survey area will be resurveyed, as the citrus fruit matures, based on the results of 2012 and early 2013 field surveys.

Under IPPC standards, Guignardia citricarpa is considered to be a pest that is present only in some areas, and is subject to official control in the United States.
 

Posted Date: Dec. 13, 2012, 9 a.m.