Federal and state agriculture officials recently made changes to huanglongbing (HLB, also known as citrus greening disease) and Mediterranean fruit fly (Medfly) quarantines in California. They also removed a Mexican fruit fly (Mexfly) quarantine in Texas. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) reported these changes.
CALIFORNIA HLB
On Nov. 25, APHIS and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) expanded HLB quarantines in the Capistrano Beach area of Orange County by 29 square miles and the Murrieta area of Riverside County by 129 square miles. The actions are being taken because of detections in plant tissue samples collected from residential properties in Orange and Riverside counties.
There is no commercial citrus impacted by the expansion in Orange County. There are 170 acres of commercial citrus impacted by the expansion in Riverside County…