Citrus canker moves north in Florida

'It's winning'

From CNN Correspondent John Zarrella

March 14, 2000
Web posted at: 2:38 p.m. EST (1938 GMT)

MIAMI (CNN) -- In south Florida, citrus canker is spreading despite the burning and cutting of infected trees in the area.

"It has just really gotten out of hand," said Liz Compton of the Florida Department of Agriculture. "It was really bad and now, it's even worse. It's winning and we can't allow that to happen.

The enemy is a bacteria with no know cure called citrus canker. It's not harmful to humans but it blisters laves and fruit and reduces a tree's ability to produce.

Since 1995, when canker was detected in Miami, the bacteria has been spreading northward.

After five years of failed attempts to stop it, the canker has reached Palm Beach Country, the doorstep of Florida's $8.5 billion-a-year commercial orange and grapefruit industry.

"This thing keeps marching north," Said Jim McKee, Deputy Director of the Canker Eradication Program. "We're at our last ditch effort to make this thing stop and move it back and get this thing eradicated."

The state produces more grapefruit than anywhere in the world and is second only to Brazil in orange production. If canker, spread by wind and rain, infected the commercial groves, inexpensive, fresh citrus fruit may be come a thing of the past.

"Worst case scenario would mean that the [U.S Department of Agriculture] would have to come in and quarantine the state of Florida," McKee said. "You no longer all fresh fruit movement out of the state."

So far, 800 square miles in south Florida is under quarantine and no citrus trees or fruit can move out of the area.

Hundreds of inspectors are searching residential backyards for citrus trees with canker. Infected trees are cut down, hauled off and burned.

Florida Department of Agriculture
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services: Citrus Canker
USDA APHIS Plant Protection and Quarantine: Citrus Canker fact sheet
Citrus Canker in Broward, Miami-Dade, Collier, Hendry, and Manatee counties: Quarantine Maps

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.