County of Orange staff in collaboration with the California Department of Food & Agriculture have begun removing any infected trees to ensure the bacteria does not spread.
The Orange County Public Works, Agricultural Commissioner Office, in cooperation with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), is beginning an extensive survey and limited treatment program in response to the detection of huanglongbing (HLB) in a single citrus in the City of La Habra.
County of Orange staff in collaboration with the California Department of Food & Agriculture have begun removing any infected trees to ensure the bacteria does not spread.
The Orange County Public Works, Agricultural Commissioner Office, in cooperation with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), is beginning an extensive survey and limited treatment program in response to the detection of huanglongbing (HLB) in a single citrus in the City of La Habra.
The disease is not harmful to human health, but is a deadly disease for citrus plants. Samples of adult Asian citrus psyllids (ACP) from two locations in the City of Anaheim also tested positive for the bacteria that cause HLB.
The CDFA conducts risk based surveys throughout the state for ACP and HLB, which resulted in the detection of the HLB positive tree and two bacterial positive ACP samples. The CDFA is continuing to search for any HLB infected trees in the local vicinity of the new detections, and will quickly remove any infected trees to ensure that the disease does not spread.
“Citrus trees played a central role in our region’s history and is still a beloved part of Orange County residents’ yards, so we take the detection of Asian citrus psyllids very seriously,” said Jeff Croy, Orange County Agricultural Commissioner. “We’re working to determine the full extent of this incident so that we can protect our community’s citrus trees. We want to emphasize citrus fruit is safe to eat and the disease is not harmful to human health. Working together we will protect our citrus trees from HLB.”
A treatment program will be carried out on all ACP and HLB host plants (citrus and closely related varieties) within 800 meters surrounding the sites where the insects and the disease were collected. Residents in the treatment areas will be notified in advance.
We urge residents in the area who think their trees are exhibiting symptoms of HLB to call the Pest Hotline at 1-800-491-1899. For more information on the ACP and HLB disease visit: http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/acp/.
