APHIS STUDY SAYS ASYMPTOMATIC FRUIT WON’T SPREAD CANKER

ISSUE 1110

APHIS STUDY SAYS ASYMPTOMATIC FRUIT WON’T SPREAD CANKER
In an evaluation published in the April 6 Federal Register, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) concluded that asymptomatic fruit is an unlikely pathway for the further spread of citrus canker.
This finding applies to commercially produced citrus fruit that has been treated with disinfectant dips and subjected to other mitigations. It says that even if viable disease-producing organisms were present, it is highly unlikely that the necessary environmental and physiological conditions for disease development would be present at the precise time infected citrus was placed in close proximity to a citrus tree.
To submit written comments on the evaluation, mail an original and three copies before June 5 to Docket No. APHIS- 2006-0045 Regulatory Analysis and Development, PPD, APHIS, Station 3A-03.8, 4700 River Road, Unit 118, Riverdale, MD 20737-1238. For instructions on emailng comments, click here.