New Citrus Disease Found in Florida

This is not good news for Florida's citrus industry which has already been ravaged by hurricanes in the past year and citrus canker which has caused many trees to be cut down in the state. The cutting down of trees also has caused many local government issues with homeowners who refuse to cut down healthy trees that were within a certain distance of infected trees. Now the Florida citrus industry has Citrus Greening to look forward to:

First U.S. Detection of Citrus Tree Disease in Florida

MIAMI (AP) - A plant illness that could endanger Florida's $9 billion citrus industry has been found for the first time in the United States, agriculture officials said Friday.
The bacterial disease known as citrus greening was found in samples collected from two trees in South Florida, officials said.

Citrus greening is not a threat to humans but it has harmed trees in Asia, the Arabian Peninsula and Africa. Its first U.S. detection was confirmed by the U.S. Agriculture Department after state scientists sent the samples there.

The disease, primarily transmitted by insect, affects the vascular system of plants and causes infected trees to die in a few years.

Related links:
$650 million later, citrus canker marches on
CITRUS CANKER SPREAD - USA (SOUTH FLORIDA): 1ST REPORT

Florida citrus has had a really bad run of luck in the past 25 years It has had to survive extensive and multiple freezes, citrus canker, the fruit flies, the hurricanes and now this.

We've had some sort of disease or worm or something in our trees here in Virginia. Notably our Damson (like a plum), and Cherry trees. Areas of the limb will expand out into knots and it seems it could kill a tree. We've gone around cutting the affected areas off.

Troy

Canker fallout: USDA places state's citrus under quarantine

VERO BEACH -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced a statewide citrus quarantine that prohibits the shipment of the Florida fruit products to all other citrus-producing states, a state official said Tuesday. The ban is linked to the citrus canker epidemic.

This is bad news for the Florida Citrus Industry, but it would seem to be a logical action in order to prevent the spread of citrus canker to other states.

A clarification I just heard on local Florida news.

This shipping ban does not include juice, it is the fruit itself that cannot be shipped. Apparently 90% of Florida citrus is turned into juice.