California Quarantine Areas Grow After New Detections
Two expanding quarantine areas in the state are drawing attention from agriculture officials, with new developments producers should be aware of.
First, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, or APHIS, has expanded the Mexican fruit fly quarantine in San Diego County. Following multiple detections of wild flies in residential properties, the La Mesa quarantine was expanded twice by one square mile each. The quarantine now totals 84 square miles and contains no commercial agriculture.
At the same time, APHIS is expanding citrus greening quarantine areas in California. A new 93 square mile quarantine has been established in the Ramona area of San Diego County, along with a 26 square mile expansion in the Loma Linda area across San Bernardino and Riverside counties. These actions follow detections in plant tissue samples collected from residential properties and impact more than 436 acres of commercial citrus.
Both quarantines include federal restrictions on the interstate movement of regulated articles to help prevent further spread.
For the latest updates and maps, producers are encouraged to visit aphis.usda.gov.
