Roughly half of Orange County and smaller regions of the other four counties are under quarantine, a California Department of Agriculture map shows.
Citrus greening disease was discovered in the U.S. in Florida in 2005, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Since then, it has reduced the state’s citrus production by 75%. Asian citrus psyllids were found in California in 2008. Four years later, the disease was found on a tree in Hacienda Heights in Los Angeles County.
The disease’s spread in California has not risen to levels seen in Florida, and so far there have been no infections in commercial groves, according to the California Department of Agriculture’s Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Division — only in residential citrus trees.
The infection numbers are increasing, though. As of Monday, May 8, there were 5,007 confirmed cases of the disease statewide, department data shows.
In 2022, 1,342 infections were confirmed across California, hundreds more than in any previous year, and 825 infections have been confirmed in approximately the first third of 2023.
Source: pressenterprise.com