APHIS Expands the Citrus Greening Quarantined Area in Texas

FOR INFORMATION

DA-2015-10

February 10, 2015

 

Subject: APHIS Expands the Citrus Greening (Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus) Quarantined Area in Texas

 

To: State and Territory Agricultural Regulatory Officials

 

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 are attached and can also be found at:

 

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

 

APHIS will publish a notice of this change in the Federal Register. For additional information, you may call CHRP National Coordinator Prakash Hebbar at 301-851-2228 or National Policy Manager for Citrus Disease Programs Lynn Evans-Goldner at 301-851-2286.

 

 

/s/

Osama El-Lissy

Deputy Administrator

Plant Protection and Quarantine

 

Attachment: Quarantined Areas for Citrus Greening and Asian Citrus Psyllid

 

 

• SPRO-DA-2015-10+-+CG+Willacy+Texas.pdf