USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s (APHIS) Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory (MDL) has confirmed Elsinoë australis, or sweet orange scab (SOS) in Florida. First from samples taken within this past month from a grapefruit tree in a campground in Lakeland (Polk County) and from a bitter orange tree at a residence in Weston (Broward County). Subsequently, MDL confirmed SOS from a sample taken from a tangerine tree in a residential area of Sarasota County.
SOS is a fungal disease of citrus that results in unsightly, scab-like lesions developing on fruit rinds. Fruit is not a vector of the disease, so fruit movement should not be an issue. The pathogen can be spread long distances within infected nursery stock and other plant parts.
To date, there have been no detections in commercial groves. In response to these finds, APHIS issued Emergency Action Notifications to the property owners in Polk and Sarasota Counties requiring that fruit, leaves, branches, and other plant parts remain on the property. The bitter orange tree in Broward County has been removed.
APHIS is working closely with the Florida Department of Agriculture to determine the extent of the infestation.
In addition, earlier this month, SOS was confirmed in a sample taken from a tangerine grove in Maricopa County, AZ. The first U.S. detections of the disease were confirmed by APHIS in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi during this past summer. In response to these detections, APHIS issued a Federal Order on Dec. 22, 2010, establishing quarantine areas for the entire states of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. APHIS is revising the Federal Order to reflect the detections in Arizona and Florida.
Source: Source: North American Plant Protection Organization’s Phytosanitary Alert System