Country: United States

Title: Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (Citrus Greening) - Quarantined Area Expanded in Texas

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

Report:

Effectively immediately, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), in cooperation with the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) and the Texas citrus industry, is expanding the area quarantined for citrus greening (CG or huanglongbing) to include all of Willacy County. APHIS is taking this action because of the positive detection of CG in plant tissue samples collected from citrus trees in this county. The samples were collected during surveys conducted as part of the cooperative Citrus Health Response Program (CHRP).

APHIS is applying safeguarding measures on the interstate movement of regulated articles from the regulated areas in Willacy County. These measures parallel the intrastate quarantine that the TDA initiated on December 9, 2014. This action is necessary to prevent the spread of CG to non-infested areas of the United States. Since 2009, APHIS has regulated all of Texas for the Asian citrus psyllid, the insect that transmits citrus greening.

The specific changes to the regulated areas in Texas can be found at:

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant-health/citrus-greening

APHIS will publish a notice of this change in the Federal Register.

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: Feb. 19, 2015, 9 a.m.