Appendix 3 - Note on Florida's citrus eradication program – the 'Florida protocol'

Since 1995, citrus canker has been detected in 24 counties in the US state of Florida. The eradication program used by Florida's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services – often referred to as the 'Florida Protocol' – is based on a scientific study conducted in Florida. The study found the distance of spread from the foci of the infection in an urban setting to be an average of 1902 feet during a 30-day period. The main elements of the Florida Protocol include[128]:

• citrus trees suspected of being infected with canker are examined by on-site pathologists and samples are sent to the Department's laboratory for diagnostic confirmation;
• geographic positioning system (GPS) coordinates are used to make appropriate measurements and a 1,900 ft. circle is placed around infected trees; and
• all positive and exposed trees within 1,900 ft. (or 579 metres) of an infected tree are destroyed.

Quarantine measures under the eradication program include:

• quarantine areas may be established to prevent spread of the disease;
• no citrus or citrus plants may be moved from a quarantine zone;
• no citrus trees may be planted in a quarantine zone without Department approval;
• businesses engaged in lawn maintenance, citrus planting, production, handling, harvesting, packing and processing with a quarantine zone must sign compliance agreements with the Department and follow mandatory decontamination procedures;
• citrus cannot be planted for two years after the last positive tree detection, except with permission of the CCEP Director.

The 600m destruction or 'cookie cutter' approach is based on research from Florida. The study was conducted in five areas in suburban Miami to measure the distance of dispersal of canker and to provide a biologically sound basis for defining the radius of exposure of trees to citrus canker. Distances between each newly diseased tree and all prior focal trees were calculated and the maximum distances of spread ranged from 12 to 3474m, indicating a broad continuum of distance for bacterial spread was possible. The results of this study were examined by a group of US scientists, regulators and citrus producers familiar with the disease. Based on measurements of disease spread, they selected a distance of 1900 ft. on measurements (579 m) as a radius that would encompass the majority of newly infected trees resulting from a prior infection focus infection that can occur within a 30 day period. The study and the resulting determination of the 579 m distance serves as the scientific basis of the removal of exposed trees around foci of infection practised in Florida at this time.[129]

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