San Diego Citrus Industry Takes Precautions to Avoid Dangerous Diseases

San Diego County’s nearly $115 million citrus industry was spooked this week when officials found a tree infected with citrus greening disease.

Authorities in San Diego and California have set up a 95-square-mile quarantine zone centered on Rancho Bernardo to see how widespread the local Huanglongbing (HLB) infection is.

The infected tree was a linden located in the courtyard of a residential building and has since been removed.

“There is no cure. It needs to be treated and removed,” said Alex Muniz, senior environmental scientist at the California Department of Food and Agriculture. “And that’s really the only way to eradicate the disease from the tree.”

When the disease affects the plant, the leaves and shoots turn yellow. The tree will also have shapeless and bitter fruits. The disease eventually kills the infected host, but the disease can spread while the plant is sick.

County authorities are notifying local citrus growers, plant nurseries and other businesses.

The disease is spread by a small beetle known as the Asian citrus psyllid.

The insect feeds on citrus trees and may ingest the disease, passing it on to an uninfected tree as it moves to forage.

Officials hope the quarantine zone will give them time to isolate the infection and control the spread. Crews are currently surveying the Bernardo ranch area.

“We are specifically looking for citrus only,” Muniz said. “If we see citrus fruits and they show symptoms, we will take samples.”

If the samples are positive, the teams will return to remove the plant.

The insect carrying the disease has been present in San Diego County for more than a decade, and the disease was first identified in Oceanside about two years ago.

Residents are asked not to take citrus plants or leaves outside the quarantine zone and consider removing citrus trees they no longer need. They are strongly encouraged to contact the county if the citrus trees look sick.

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California Department of Food and Agriculture

Map showing HLB quarantine zones throughout Southern California.

Farmers have been on the lookout for over a decade when the disease was first identified in the Los Angeles area.

Much of the Los Angeles Basin is under HLB quarantine because the spread of citrus trees in the area makes it easier for the disease to spread.

The disease has already wiped out Florida’s citrus groves, wreaking havoc on a multi-billion dollar industry. The state has lost over 80% of its citrus groves.

The San Diego farmers don’t want that to happen here, so the community is working together.

“If Asian citrus psyllids are present,” said Eric Middleton of the University of California Cooperative Extension Office. “When the number of insects is high, they spray the entire area. They coordinate their actions so that everyone applies insecticides at the same time.”

Agricultural officials have not made much progress in containing HLB, and they acknowledge that quarantine zones have not contained the disease.

It is hoped that the zones will slow the spread enough to give scientists a chance to find a cure, a cure, or a way to make the trees resistant to the disease.

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