Huanglongbing (HLB or citrus greening) is a bacteria spread by a tiny insect called the Asian Citrus Psyllid. The disease turns fruit bitter and eventually kills the tree. There is no cure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First detected in Florida in 2005, citrus greening is now found in every commercial citrus-producing county in the state. It is the biggest threat the Florida Citrus industry has ever faced, causing production to plummet in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Citrus greening can be traced\u00a0back to the 1800s in Asia and has caused devastation in a number of countries. It was discovered in Brazil in 2004.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Early symptoms of citrus greening include yellowing veins on leaves. New root growth is often suppressed and fruit are often small and may drop from the tree prematurely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Researchers are working on techniques to battle citrus greening and discover a cure. Current efforts include using heat therapy (thermotherapy) to kill the bacteria at the roots and use of nutrition to keep the tree healthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For more information on HLB, visit the University of Florida\u2019s Citrus and Research Education center website<\/a>, the USDA\u2019s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service<\/a>, and the FDOC newsroom<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Huanglongbing (HLB or citrus greening) is a bacteria spread by a tiny insect called the Asian Citrus Psyllid. The disease turns fruit bitter and eventually kills the tree. There is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","fdoc_news_item_category":[106,100],"fdoc_citrus_type":[],"fdoc_health_category":[],"class_list":["post-4272","fdoc-news-item","type-fdoc-news-item","status-publish","hentry","fdoc_news_item_category-citrus-greening","fdoc_news_item_category-industry"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t