Southwest Riverside County Added To Citrus Quarantine: What To Know

MURRIETA, CA —About 170 acres of citrus trees in Southwest Riverside County are under quarantine due to citrus greening, the USDA says.

Citrus greening, also called Huanglongbing (HLB), is a bacterial infection of citrus plants, according to the USDA website. It is one of the most serious citrus diseases worldwide. Once infected, most trees die within a few years, they say.

There is no cure for this disease. Though it poses no health threat to people or animals, it has devastated millions of acres of citrus crops throughout the United States and abroad. Now, attempts to halt that are underway.

The new quarantine affects 170 total acres of commercial citrus in Riverside County near Murrieta, with new citrus greening quarantines added to 129 square miles in Riverside County near Murrieta and 29 square miles in Orange County near Capistrano Beach.

"APHIS (the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services) expanded the areas quarantined for the citrus greening (Huanglongbing: HLB) in California," Abby Stilwel, Agriculturalist for the USDA said

"APHIS is taking this action because of citrus greening detections in plant tissue samplesvcollected from residential properties in Orange and Riverside Counties," Stilwell said.

The expansion in Orange County does not affect commercial citrus. There are 170 acres of commercial citrus in Riverside County affected by the expansion.

For more information on what to see in your area when it undergoes treatment, visit: www.cdfa.ca.gov/citrus.