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Contact:
Greg Rosenthal (301) 734-3265
Andrea McNally (301) 734-0602
USDA ANNOUNCES ADDITIONAL FUNDING TO COMBAT EUROPEAN GRAPEVINE MOTH IN CALIFORNIA
WASHINGTON, May 3, 2010 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) today announced that it has released $1 million in contingency funds to prevent the spread of European grapevine moth (EGVM) in California.
"We understand the importance of a rapid, effective response to this invasive pest to protect California’s grape and wine industries,” said APHIS Administrator Cindy Smith. “With this additional funding, we will be able to expand our response efforts as we work in close partnership with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), county agriculture commissioners, and growers.”
EGVM (Lobesia botrana) is a significant pest of grapes. The moth is found in Europe, the Mediterranean, southern Russia, Japan, the Middle East, Near East and northern and western Africa. Since 1986, surveys for this pest have been conducted throughout the United States without detections. However, in the fall of 2009, EGVM was found in California, its first detection both in the United States and North America. To date, the moth has been detected in Napa, Sonoma, Solano and Mendocino counties. CDFA has established a quarantine area covering the known infested region.
APHIS, CDFA and county officials are working together to detect, determine the infestation boundaries of and control this pest before it has the opportunity to spread and require greater resources from government agencies and growers. In addition, APHIS has created a technical working group comprised of U.S. and international EGVM experts to study the situation in California, review the most current data, and recommend science-based response strategies.
More information about APHIS’ EGVM program is available online at www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/
eg_moth/index.shtml.
Note to Reporters: USDA news releases, program announcements and media advisories are available on the Internet and through Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds. Go to the APHIS news release page www.aphis.usda.gov/newsroom and click on the RSS feed link. To sign up to receive APHIS releases automatically, send an e-mail message to lyris@mdrdlyriss10.aphis.usda.gov and leave the subject blank. In the message, type
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