{"id":5339,"date":"2025-11-03T19:00:39","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T19:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/agi.alabama.gov\/plantprotection\/?p=5339"},"modified":"2025-11-03T21:09:27","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T21:09:27","slug":"citrus-canker-detected-in-mobile-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agi.alabama.gov\/plantprotection\/2025\/11\/citrus-canker-detected-in-mobile-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Citrus Canker Detected in Two Alabama Counties"},"content":{"rendered":"
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MONTGOMERY, Ala. -<\/span><\/b> Citrus canker, a federal and state regulated plant disease, has been detected in Baldwin and Mobile Counties. As required by federal law, the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries (ADAI) has established a citrus canker quarantine for the two counties.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Auburn University Plant Pathology Lab confirmed the first detection from foliage and fruit samples collected during ADAI\u2019s routine citrus survey. Citrus canker is a highly contagious bacterial disease of citrus, caused by Xanthomonas citri subsp. citri (Xac), and spreads primarily through wind-driven rain, flooding, overhead irrigation, and the human movement of infected plant material or contaminated tools and equipment.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCitrus canker is a serious disease of citrus that has decimated the industry in Florida,\u201d said Alabama Department of Agriculture & Industries Commissioner Rick Pate. \u201cWe must remain vigilant to contain the spread and protect citrus in Alabama.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While not harmful to humans, citrus canker significantly affects the health and productivity of citrus trees, often causing premature leaf and fruit drop. Infected fruit is safe to eat but loses marketability as fresh produce. The bacteria can remain viable on plant surfaces for several months and thrives in areas with high rainfall and warm temperatures. Grapefruit and limes are among the most susceptible citrus species.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important for everyone, from commercial growers to homeowners with backyard citrus trees, to stay vigilant,\u201d said ADAI\u2019s Plant Regulatory Official Brittaney Allen. \u201cCitrus canker spreads easily through contaminated tools, equipment or even plant material. By being aware and taking preventative measures, we can help protect Alabama\u2019s citrus industry.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The positive tree, along with two additional symptomatic trees within the same orchard, have been removed. ADAI is working closely with the orchard owner to identify and destroy any additional symptomatic trees on-site to prevent further spread.<\/span><\/p>\n

ADAI\u2019s Plant Protection Division will continue to monitor the area and provide updates as needed.<\/span><\/p>\n

For more information about citrus canker or the citrus canker quarantine, please contact Brittaney Allen by email at\u00a0<\/span>Brittaney.Allen@agi.alabama.gov<\/span><\/a>\u00a0or by phone at 334-240-7172.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Citrus canker, a federal and state regulated plant disease, has been detected in Baldwin and Mobile Counties. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-5339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agi.alabama.gov\/plantprotection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agi.alabama.gov\/plantprotection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agi.alabama.gov\/plantprotection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agi.alabama.gov\/plantprotection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agi.alabama.gov\/plantprotection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5339"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/agi.alabama.gov\/plantprotection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5352,"href":"https:\/\/agi.alabama.gov\/plantprotection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5339\/revisions\/5352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agi.alabama.gov\/plantprotection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agi.alabama.gov\/plantprotection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agi.alabama.gov\/plantprotection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5339"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agi.alabama.gov\/plantprotection\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=5339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}