The United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), in cooperation with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), announced the expansion of areas quarantined for citrus greening (Huanglongbing; HLB) caused by Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus, in California effective immediately. 

APHIS is expanding the quarantined area in the Mission Viejo area of Orange County by approximately 85 square miles. The organization says it's taking this action because of "citrus greening detections in plant tissue samples collected from residential properties in Los Angeles County. There are approximately 0.4 acres of commercial citrus impacted by this expansion."

APHIS says it's applying safeguarding measures on the interstate movement of regulated articles from the quarantined areas in California, and it's a parallel measure to the intrastate quarantine that CDFA established on November 27, 2024. 

*Photo courtesy of APHIS