Country: United States

Title: Sweet Orange Scab (Elsinoë australis) detected in California

Contact:
CHRP National Coordinator Prakash Hebbar at 301-851-2228 or National Policy Manager for Citrus Disease Programs Lynn Evans-Goldner at 301-851-2286

Report: On October 11, 2013, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) confirmed the fungal causal agent of sweet orange scab (Elsinoë australis Bitanc. & Jenkins) on lemon fruit samples collected from two separate commercial groves in Imperial County, California. APHIS also confirmed sweet orange scab (SOS) on grapefruit collected in a residential area of Los Angeles County and from a commercial grapefruit grove in Riverside County, on November 1, 2013.

The detections resulted from intensified surveys for the disease by the California Department of Food and Agriculture as part of the cooperative Citrus Health Response Program (CHRP). Delimitation surveys for SOS in citrus-producing areas of California continue.

SOS is a fungal disease of citrus that results in unsightly, scab-like lesions on fruit rinds. The damage is superficial and does not affect internal fruit quality. The pathogen can be spread long distances within infected nursery stock and other plant parts.

Sweet orange scab was first found in Texas in 2010; since then, it has been detected in Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arizona. Through CHRP, APHIS works with all affected state departments of agriculture and industry to administer the provisions of a Federal Order that facilitates the safe movement of regulated commodities. More information about SOS is at:

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/citrus/sweet_orange.shtml

Under IPPC Standards, Elsinoë australis is considered to be a pest that is present: subject to official control in the United States.
 

Posted Date: Dec. 16, 2013, 9 a.m.