Quarterly Reports
3rd Quarter: 2021
July - Sepember
The HLB epidemic in California
For the last year, DATOC has maintained an online “data dashboard” to keep interested parties apprised of the current Asian citrus psyllid (ACP) /Huanglongbing (HLB) situation in California. Information on the quantity and locations of infected insects and trees are updated monthly. More detailed information on testing results (i.e. patterns in bacterial titers or proportions testing positive) are updated on a quarterly basis, with a 3-month lag. Data is compiled from the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s (CDFA) Plant Data Analysis Services, the data department within the Citrus Research Board, and the CDFA Biocontrol Program.
Upcoming State of the State
In 2017, DATOC published a formal overview of shifts in ACP/HLB dynamics in California. This document provided supporting documentation for future decision-making by the Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Committee (CPDPC). Much has changed since that document was published, and our understanding of the disease and its potential consequences in CA have expanded greatly. An update to this report, called the “State of the State” is underway now, based on DATOC’s analyses of data collected in the intervening period. The report is intended to provide the CPDPC with a broad situational analysis and epidemiological interpretation. The report is slated for publication in Fall 2021 and incorporates many pieces of analysis DATOC has been working on this quarter- including HLB risk in CA based on our unique regional climate zones and observed residential flush patterns.
Detection of CLas in different tissue types
As during the prior quarter, DATOC continued to provide analytical support to a Citrus Research Board-funded project led by Subhas Hajeri from the Citrus Pest Detection Program and Lucita Kumagai from CDFA. This project was designed to address the challenges associated with detecting and eradicating a disease when the causal organism is distributed heterogeneously throughout its host by testing different plant tissue types and incorporating possible confounding effects such as tree size, seasonality, or citrus variety.
PDF version & past reports