Country: United States

Title: APHIS Confirms Citrus Greening (Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus) in Texas

Contact:
Lynn Evans-Goldner, APHIS National Program Manager, at (301) 734-7228 or Phillip Mason, APHIS Regional Program Manager, at (970) 494-7565

Report: On January 13, 2012, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) confirmed the presence of citrus greening, also referred to as Huanglongbing, in plant tissue samples collected from a sweet orange tree located in a commercial citrus grove in the San Juan area of Hidalgo County, Texas. The sample was collected from a symptomatic tree during ongoing citrus surveys conducted as part of the cooperative Citrus Health Response Program. Since 2009, APHIS has regulated the entire State of Texas for the Asian citrus psyllid, the insect vector responsible for transmitting citrus greening.

APHIS, in cooperation with the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) and the Texas citrus industry, is responding to this find with additional surveys, control, and regulatory activities.

Effective January 13, 2012, TDA enacted a temporary emergency quarantine in the 5-mile radius around the detection site in an effort to prevent the artificial spread of citrus greening. This emergency quarantine will expire on January 20, 2012. At that time, TDA intends to establish a revised intrastate quarantine with an appropriate scope based upon updated information. After the intrastate quarantine is established, APHIS is prepared to enact a parallel interstate quarantine. APHIS will publish a description of citrus greening quarantine areas in Texas at:

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/citrus_greening/index.shtml

Under IPPC Standards, 'Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus' is considered to be a pest that is present, only in some areas, and subject to official control to limit its spread in the United States.
 

Posted Date: Jan. 20, 2012, 9 a.m.