Effectively immediately, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), in cooperation with the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) and the Texas citrus industry, is expanding the area quarantined for citrus greening (Huanglongbing) to include all of the following counties: Aransas, Brooks, Calhoun, Nueces, and Starr. APHIS is taking this action because of the positive detections of citrus greening in plant tissue samples collected in multiple locations.

APHIS is applying safeguarding measures on the interstate movement of regulated articles from Aransas, Brooks, Calhoun, Nueces, and Starr Counties in Texas. These measures parallel the intrastate quarantine that the TDA initiated on March 30, 2018. This action is necessary to prevent the spread of citrus greening to non-infested areas of the United States. The counties are listed in bold.

The specific changes to the regulated areas in Texas can be found at:

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant-health/citrus-greening

APHIS will publish a notice of this change in the Federal Register.

Under IPPC Standards, 'Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus' is considered to be a pest that is present, only in some areas, and subject to official control to limit its spread in the United States.