Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (causal agent of Citrus Greening or Huanglongbing): APHIS Establishes Quarantines in Alabama
Effective immediately, the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), in cooperation with the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries (ADAI), is establishing quarantines for Huanglongbing (HLB; citrus greening), caused by Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, in all of Baldwin and Mobile Counties in Alabama. APHIS is taking this action because of HLB detections in plant tissue samples collected in multiple locations in Alabama.
APHIS is applying safeguarding measures on the interstate movement of regulated articles from the quarantined counties in Alabama. These measures parallel the intrastate quarantine that ADAI established on June 2, 2020. This action is necessary to prevent the spread of HLB to non-infested areas of the United States. The specific changes to the quarantined areas in Alabama 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.
Under IPPC Standards, 'Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus' the agent that causes citrus greening is a pest that is present: not widely distributed and under official control in the United States.