Bug hunters fan across LA to stop citrus disease

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - State bug detectives are fanning across a Los Angeles suburban neighborhood, setting traps and taking tissue samples from backyard citrus trees in a frantic effort to stop the spread of a tree-killing disease detected there last week.

Walking door-to-door in a half-mile radius, ag officials are hanging traps and scouting for potentially diseased citrus trees. By the weekend, they had surveyed 435 properties, found 178 host plants and took samples from 57 trees that potentially exhibited the symptoms: yellowing of new shoots, misshapen fruit and leaf blotching.

So far only one case of huanglongbing, more commonly called citrus greening, has been detected. The disease has caused billions of dollars in damage across Florida since 2005.

The state is seeking emergency authority to spray trees in the area.