APHIS Establishes and Expands Quarantine Areas for Citrus Canker (Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri) in Texas

FOR INFORMATION AND ACTION
DA-2024-04
February 12, 2024 

Subject:  APHIS Establishes and Expands Quarantine Areas for Citrus Canker (Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri) in Texas

To:  State and Territory Agricultural Regulatory Officials 

Effective immediately, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) are establishing four new quarantine areas for citrus canker in Brazoria and Harris Counties, Texas, and expanding three existing quarantine areas for citrus canker in Brazoria, Fort Bend, Galveston, and Harris Counties, Texas, to prevent the spread of the disease. 

This action is necessary because APHIS confirmed the positive identification of citrus canker in citrus trees from residential areas in the Rosharon area of Brazoria County and the Kingwood, Lincoln Park, and Northwest Houston areas of Harris County leading to new quarantined areas.  In addition, further detections of confirmed positive citrus canker in residential areas have expanded the quarantine areas in the Sugarland area of Fort Bend County, the Pearland area of Brazoria, Fort Bend, and Harris Counties, and the Friendswood Area of Galveston County. With the expansion of the quarantine area in the Pearland area, TDA merged the citrus canker quarantine boundaries of the Shadow Creek, Silver Lake, and South Fork areas into the Pearland area quarantine that expands across portions of Brazoria, Fort Bend, and Harris Counties. TDA has established an intrastate quarantine area for citrus canker that parallels the federal citrus canker regulatory requirements specified in 7 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) § 301.75 et seq. 

Under the current citrus canker quarantine regulations, the interstate movement of citrus plants and plant parts, other than commercially packed and disinfected citrus fruit, remains prohibited. Citrus nursery stock that is moved in accordance with regulations contained in 7 CFR § 301.75-6 may move from areas quarantined for citrus canker. 

The establishment of this quarantine area is reflected on the APHIS Citrus Canker webpage, which also contains a description of all the current federal citrus canker quarantine areas. APHIS will follow this action by publishing a notice in the Federal Register.

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