Country: United States

Title: Citrus Canker (Xanthomonas spp.) quarantine established in Louisiana

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

Report: Effective immediately, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) is establishing quarantined areas for citrus canker (CC) in Louisiana.

Following the positive identification of Xanthomonas spp., the bacterial causal agent of CC from a sweet orange tree located in New Orleans, Louisiana, APHIS and the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry completed a delimiting survey.

The Federal Order adds Orleans Parish and portions of Jefferson, Plaquemines, and St. Charles Parishes in Louisiana to the CC quarantined area in the United States. Louisiana has established an intra-state quarantined area for CC that parallels the federal CC regulatory requirements as specified in 7 CFR §301.75.

Under the current CC quarantine regulations, the interstate movement of citrus plants and plant parts, other than commercially packed and disinfected citrus fruit, remains prohibited with the following exception: Citrus nursery stock that is moved in accordance with regulations contained in 7 CFR §301.76 may move from areas quarantined for CC.

Under IPPC Standards, species of Xanthomonas that cause citrus canker are considered to be pests that are present, only in limited areas in Florida and Louisiana and subject to official control in the United States.
 

Posted Date: Feb. 14, 2014, 9 a.m.