appendix g - Polk County LMS

Transcription

APPENDIX G
APPENDIX G: RELEVANT ARTICLES
APPENDIX G – RELEVANT ARTICLES
Appendix G includes relevant articles located during the data gathering for the LMS Plan Update.
The articles relate to the following topics:
·
·
·
·
·
·
·
Sinkholes
Lightning
Storm Shelters
Dense Fog Advisory
Citrus Psyllid and Greening
Epidemics – Mosquito Borne Diseases
Epidemics – Diverted Prescription Drugs
Appendix G – Page i
Polk County Multi-jurisdictional Local Mitigation Strategy
August 18, 2015
Florida's 'sinkhole alley' homeowners struggle with insurance overhaul (...
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http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/banking/floridas-sinkhole-alle...
By Jeff Harrington and Dan DeWitt, Times Staff Writers
Friday, October 10, 2014 11:53am
In the heyday of the Great Florida Sinkhole Lottery, Iris and Harry Irizarry would have had all the ingredients for a big
cash payout:
A sinkhole policy from state-run Citizens Property Insurance Corp.; visible cracking in the walls and floors of the
Spring Hill home they bought new in 2003; and a sinkhole confirmed by both an engineer and the Hernando County
Property Appraiser's Office.
But the era of easy sinkhole claims is over, slammed shut by a 2011 overhaul of the state insurance law. Based on the
new law, the same engineering firm that found the Irizarrys' sinkhole — and recommended that it be filled with grout
— deemed that it wouldn't qualify for an insurance claim.
"We pay our insurance but (Citizens) doesn't want to pay to fix the house, and I can't sell my house because (it) has no
value," said Iris Irizarry, 64, a retired Head Start director from Brooklyn. "What kind of a law is that?"
In short, it's a law that has done what it was supposed to do: stem a flood of claims that by 2011 were driving up
insurance rates and driving down property values in the "sinkhole alley" of Hernando and Pasco counties.
But concerns are surfacing that the sinkhole fix has gone too far: It has limited the availability of sinkhole insurance
and allowed insurers to charge prices rivaling the cost of a standard homeowners policy. It has made it far more
difficult for homeowners to qualify for a claim. And by leaving homeowners stuck with sinkhole homes they cannot
repair, it has created a potential new drag on property values.
Jim Flynn, marketing manager of LRE Ground Services, one of the most active sinkhole repair companies in Tampa
Bay, initially supported the new rules.
"We were advocates for doing something. What was happening was crazy as far as people filing sinkhole claims for
something as simple as a driveway crack," he said. But "it's really gone from one extreme to the other."
Along with a widely praised requirement that homeowners use payouts to fix sinkhole damage, the law included a long
list of rules that "were definitely a gift to the insurance industry," said Aaron Kling, a Tampa lawyer who represents
homeowners.
It sets standards for structural damage that are almost impossible to meet short of a catastrophic collapse, several
sinkhole lawyers said. It allows insurers to pick the engineers who decide whether homes meet that standard and limits
coverage to homes only, not driveways, patios or cabanas. It gave insurers more power to deny sinkhole coverage and
made sinkhole insurance separate from a base homeowners policy, which helped drive up Citizen's average sinkhole
premiums between 2011 and 2013 from $1,105 to $1,955 in Hernando and from $1,449 to $2,105 in Pasco.
Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty credits the overhaul for stemming "rampant fraud and runaway
abuse" when thousands were receiving insurance payouts for minor cracking damage. Both the frequency and severity
of claims has gone down significantly.
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But he also acknowledged critics of the overhaul have a point.
"One could argue the pendulum has swung too far the other way," McCarty said in an interview "It makes sense for us
to do a more sweeping analysis of the market and see what's happening."
Without enough complaints in his office to warrant action, the commissioner said he plans to put out a "data call" to
property insurers to examine issues like the affordability of sinkhole insurance and how often claims are being denied
under the new system.
"Of course, we're concerned (if) it's gone too far," he said.
Getting past the crisis
The last thing McCarty wants, however, is to go back to the way things were a few years ago, when insurers complained
that the escalation of sinkhole claims had become a crisis.
Between 2007 and 2011, the number of sinkhole claims filed with Citizens ballooned from 1,432 to 4,032, nearly half of
them in Hernando County.
Citizens incurred $537 million in sinkhole losses in 2011 while collecting only $52 million in premiums. And partly
because about 60 percent of homeowners in Hernando had pocketed the payments rather than making repairs, the
county lost more than $110 million in taxable property value in 2011 alone.
"There was nothing worse than having 40 to 50 percent of the homes not being fixed," McCarty said.
Tampa land-use lawyer Ron Weaver equated the sinkhole crackdown to some much-needed "parenting." But he
acknowledges, "whether the children are being held in too tight a straitjacket in the back seat remains to be seen."
Among the signs of the squeeze: In two years, the number of Hernando, Pasco and Hillsborough homeowners who
have sinkhole coverage through Citizens has shriveled by more than 50 percent. Before the 2011 law, known as SB 408,
Citizens was averaging 500 to 600 sinkhole claims per month; now it's seeing 25 to 35 claims monthly. State Farm has
seen similar shrinkage, from handling 769 claims in 2011 to just 107 last year.
The situation has left lawyers who specialize in sinkhole cases bemoaning the dying years of a once very-lucrative era.
With a five-year statute of limitations to file, some 2009 and 2010 cases are still wending their way to the courthouse,
said local lawyer Rob Nipps, who recently launched his own practice after years working for one of the dominant
sinkhole litigation firms, Marshall Thomas & Burnett.
"But over the next year or two that will start to fade off," Nipps said. "I think in five years, all the claims will be gone."
Spring Hill, a Hernando community that has long been one of the epicenters of sinkhole claims, is illustrative of what
has happened.
A couple of years ago, Flynn of LRE Ground Services could rattle off 30 jobs his company was handling there; now he's
hard-pressed to cite one or two. The few repair jobs under way involve cases that have lingered in litigation pre-dating
the 2011 legislation.
"Most of the work the contractors are getting now is old stuff," Flynn said on a recent afternoon as he watched two
workers drive steel piping more than 70 feet underground so they could pump in grout.
The owner of the home, Tricia Lyons, said her claim languished for a couple of years because Citizens' initial offer
included only $2,000 for cosmetic repairs.
Citizens eventually agreed to pay $14,000 toward cosmetic damage and repair work recently began. But it was too late
for Lyons.
While waiting, she and her husband fell behind in mortgage payments, and they recently divorced. They're now
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arranging a short sale that may come through before the sinkhole repair is finished.
"We should have had the money way back when, but they refused to write a check," she said. "We're now told because
of the short sale, we'll never see the money."
Bought in 2005 for $248,900, the home is now appraised at only $38,000. "What I'm told by the public adjuster is
once you fix the house, you could double the $38,000 and that's what you could sell it for," Lyons said. "We're going to
lose no matter what."
Qualifying difficulties
How much harder is it to qualify for a claim now?
Walter Coleman can show you from his yard in the northern Pasco subdivision of Heritage Pines. Before the new law
went into effect, four of his closest neighbors received sinkhole payouts — all of them for damage very much like that in
Coleman's home.
When Coleman, a retired police officer from Philadelphia, first noticed several interior cracks in 2011, he filled them
with putty and painted.
When the cracks reappeared, Coleman started to think they might be caused by a sinkhole, especially because the
house, built in 1999, was too old to still be settling. He was more convinced his property was riddled with voids after he
pushed a gardening stake into a slight depression that had formed in his back yard.
"It went in without any resistance at all," said Coleman, 73.
He filed a claim with Citizens, which, before the new law passed, would have been required to send out a geologist to
look for sinkhole activity and, if the geologist found it, pay to stabilize the home.
Under the new law, Citizens was allowed to choose an engineer to determine whether the cracking met the new
standard for structural damage that includes the "leaning or buckling" of load-bearing walls and signs the home is
"likely to imminently collapse."
In November 2012, Citizens denied Coleman's claim based on the report of its structural engineer, even though the
same report said the depression in the back yard "may warrant geotechnical testing."
"I thought, did the adjuster even read the engineer's report," said Coleman, who has challenged the denial in court.
Homeowners are discouraged from challenging the findings of structural engineers because under the new law doing
so requires them to pay half the cost of geological testing up to $2,500, said St. Petersburg lawyer Amy Boggs.
And if these tests do reveal an underground void, homeowners often end up in the same situation as her clients in a
suit against Citizens, the Irizarrys: with a deep cut in the value of their property and little chance of receiving a payout.
"Really, this is a disincentive for people to identify dangerous sinkhole activity on their property," she said. "It's like
saying we shouldn't fill a cavity until you need a root canal. Then we'll cover it."
Priced out
Getting approved for a sinkhole claim is one thing. But for many homeowners, particularly in Pasco and Hernando
counties, it's a moot point: They either can't afford or can't find coverage anyway.
Pasco County Tax Collector Mike Fasano, who frequently challenged Citizens Property rates during his years in the
Florida Legislature, continues to field complaints that sinkhole premiums of $3,000 or more are pricing people out of
the market. Some who have had previous sinkhole claims or repairs, he says, can't find coverage at any price.
"God forbid if you get a mortgage company that says, 'We want you to get sinkhole coverage.' Forget it," Fasano said.
"It's killing property values."
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Ginny Stevens of New Port Richey said she was forced to drop sinkhole coverage due to the expense, and her parents
did the same with their home.
Stevens previously used a sinkhole claim to repair her damaged house, including chemical grouting and putting in a
new foundation. Even after the repairs, she was quoted premiums between $2,000 and $6,000 to add sinkhole
coverage to her homeowners policy.
"We have this beautiful home," she said. "We put a lot of extra money into it to make sure it's stable and we're still
getting screwed."
Stevens said she'd like to move to Ohio, but her house is so undervalued — plummeting from $350,000 five years ago
to an estimated $125,000 today — she can't sell it.
"We will either stay in our house until we die or we will walk away from the house," Stevens said. "We want to move
but no way we can sell our home. … We're stuck. We are so stuck."
Elsewhere in New Port Richey, homeowner Allan Schwartz said he was told it would cost an extra $3,400 to add
sinkhole coverage. He passed.
Schwartz doubts anyone will want to buy into a neighborhood with a sinkhole reputation, knowing that they either
can't get sinkhole coverage or can't afford it. "I'm not going to pay top dollar for a home that you may have to pay
$30,000 to fix in a few years. How is Citizens allowed to get away with this?"
Earlier this year, McCarty, the state insurance commissioner, rejected Citizens' initial plan to raise sinkhole rates even
further in Hernando. A "pause" in higher rates is "probably appropriate," he said in an interview. But he said he needs
more data before entertaining a rate rollback.
Beyond paying higher rates, sinkhole policyholders are feeling financial pain in another way.
Citizens has shifted to a 10 percent deductible on sinkhole coverage, far higher than the 2 to 5 percent deductible for
other perils like hurricanes. That looks attractive to the financially strapped homeowner facing a multithousand-dollar
sinkhole premium.
But when it comes time to pay up, it can be a shocker.
Underpinning a home with sinkhole damage may cost $10,000 to $20,000. Compaction grouting, a more durable and
costly method, could cost up to $100,000. Translation: With a 10 percent deductible, a homeowner would have to pay
$30,000 out of pocket to fix a house valued at $300,000 before any insurance kicks in.
St. Petersburg sinkhole plaintiff attorney Hans Haahr said the combination of a high premium, high deductible and
little likelihood of a successful claim means "there really is not sinkhole coverage now."
Homeowners could be better off saving their money and — in the worst case scenario — just relying on the catastrophic
ground collapse coverage that's included in all homeowners' policies, he said.
"Citizens took over such a big portion of the industry that they can dictate to everybody what they want to do and not
have the decency to pay out," Haahr said.
New realities
From the vantage of Citizens Property Insurance, the sinkhole overhaul has worked out just as it should have.
"I don't think it's gone too far," said Elaina Paskalakis, vice president of claims litigation at Citizens. "I truly believe it's
clarified for the industry what triggers coverage. … From our perspective, we're very comfortable with it."
Armed with that clarity of coverage and a war chest to spend on settlements, Paskalakis' legal team is quickly whittling
down its mountain of legacy sinkhole cases.
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Citizens is about 50 percent of the way through the cases. Out of the 2,200 remaining, about 900 are expected to settle
soon, she said, declining to set a timetable for finishing.
As litigation and the frequency of repairs diminishes, the sinkhole industry is adapting.
Haahr, the St. Petersburg attorney, is taking on more real estate work; LRE Ground Services is handling more interior
cosmetic work and commercial sinkhole cases, which haven't been as heavily impacted by the new rules.
But for homeowners like the Irizarrys, adapting to a new reality isn't easy.
The county property appraiser used the sinkhole finding to justify slashing the value of the Irizarry's home by 40
percent, to $53,744.
Iris Irizarry wants to have family from New York visit. But with her damaged-yet-unrepaired home, she's worried
about their safety staying in the house.
"Right now," she said, "we feel very helpless."
Contact Jeff Harrington at (813) 226-3434 or [email protected]. Follow @JeffMHarrington. Contact Dan
DeWitt at [email protected] or (352) 754-6116.
In Hernando, the most active sinkhole county, the number of reported sinkholes has plummeted, though a greater
percentage of cases are getting repaired.
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Reported sinkholes
Repaired
1,957
1,655
1,538*
1,500
1,314
1,020
1,000
908
877
452
500
386
328
347
340*
0
05-09
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Source: Hernando County Property Appraiser
Data as reported through Sept. 30
* Includes repairs of sinkholes reported in previous years.
The total number of Citizens Property sinkhole policies has dwindled by more than 50 percent.
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Hillsborough
Pasco
50k
Hernando
47,748
40k
30k
25,564
20k
12,833
13,821
10k
5,903
6,133
0
June 2012
June 2013
June 2014
Source: Citizens Property Insurance
In Pasco, far fewer property owners are pulling the engineering inspection permits required to examine for sinkhole
activity.
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1,954
2,000
1,837
1,515
1,500
1,399
1,277
1,000
500
394
236*
0
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Source: Pasco County Property Appraiser
* Through August
Florida's 'sinkhole alley' homeowners struggle with insurance overhaul (w/video) 10/10/14
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Life Can Change Flash
Lightning Frequently Deadly
By SHELLEY PRESTON
The Ledger
Published: Monday, June 2, 2003 at 2:13 a.m.
Robert Hunter doesn't remember being hit.
"I remember waking up in the hospital
wondering why I was there," he said.
More than 30 years after a direct hit from a bolt
of lightning, Hunter, 71, still lives with the
repercussions of being struck on a Maryland
golf course.
MICHAEL WILSON/The Ledger
Deaf in one ear and with only 10 percent
Robert Hunter of Lakeland still has the hat and
golf shoes he was wearing as well as the
hearing in the other, Hunter relies on reading
lips and has difficulty hearing voices over the
phone.
umbrella he was holding when he was struck
by lightning while playing golf on June 3, 1970.
All the items were shredded, ripped or tattered
by the bolt.
"The pressure wave from the thunder is what did it," Hunter said.
Several years later, when Hunter and his wife decided to retire in Lakeland, his
friends said, "Are you crazy? That's the lightning capital of the world!"
Not quite, but close. Statistics from the American Meteorology Society show that the
area between Tampa and Lakeland is the 14th in the world for lightning strikes.
Kamembe, Rwanda, in Africa is No. 1.
In the United States, Florida ranks first among the states in lightning strikes and the
Lakeland-Tampa area is tops in Florida. Nearly 100 people die and twice as many
are injured by lightning every year in the United States.
Between 1959 and 2001, nearly 2,000 Floridians were killed or injured by lightning,
with 404 deaths.
Michigan ranked second in combined deaths and injuries with 800. But Texas, while
having fewer nonfatal injuries, ranked second in the number of deaths with 189.
Since 1959, lightning has killed 24 people in Polk County. The most recent lightning
deaths in Polk County were in 1998.
But the National Lightning Institute in Louisville, Colo., said the risk of being zapped
can be greatly reduced if precautions are taken.
Outdoors is the most dangerous place to be during a thunderstorm, and because
lightning strikes tall objects, standing under a tree is not a good idea.
Golfers are especially vulnerable because they are outside and are holding long metal
objects that can conduct electricity.
In 1970, Robert Hunter was getting ready to hit his ball on the eighth hole on a golf
course in Glendale, Md., when his partner, George Clawson, heard a boom come
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from Hunter's direction.
Before the strike, Hunter had an umbrella slung over one shoulder and was holding
a golf club.
"I was the perfect lightning rod," he said. "The lightning jumped down the shaft and
melted onto my shoulder."
The bolt came out through one of his legs, ripping through his golf cleats.
Clawson found Hunter in the middle of an X-shaped fissure burned into the ground.
Hunter's clothes had been blown off, and steam was rising from his singed body.
Hunter survived because his friend knew CPR.
"Needless to say, I didn't win that game," Hunter joked.
Five years ago, two men died after being struck by lightning at Huntington Hills Golf
and Country Club in Lakeland when they failed to take shelter during a rainstorm.
Margie Serralles, manager of Huntington Hills, said most golf courses make it
standard procedure to post lightning safety tips and use a horn to alert golfers in
case of storms.
But it is up to the golfer to heed the warnings.
"Some guys think they are beyond any problems," Serralles said "But the smart ones
get out of there."
A global lightning research project based in France said 80 percent of lightning
victims live to tell the tale, but often suffer heart or brain damage or both.
Immediately after the strike, Hunter had no feeling in most of his body because
nerves close to the surface of his skin had been damaged. Those eventually healed,
but he suffered deeper damage to nerves in one of his legs that never regenerated.
He also lost all the fluid in his ear that helps the body maintain a sense of balance.
Besides knowing how to avoid a possible strike, it doesn't hurt to know CPR to help
save people who are struck.
Once lightning has been grounded, there is no residual electric charge, so there is no
danger touching a lightning victim.
In a letter to The Ledger in 1998, Hunter wrote: "It may be natural to assume the
victim is dead because he is motionless and giving off smoke (steam), but . . . the
strike has interrupted the body's rhythmic functions . . . and CPR may revive him."
Shelley Preston can be reached at [email protected] or 863-802-7517.
Copyright © 2015 TheLedger.com — All rights reserved. Restricted use only.
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Work Under Way on Polk City's New
Community Center, Storm Shelter
Rancher Don Bronson paying for facility construction.
By Larry Griffin
LEDGER MEDIA GROUP
Published: Sunday, February 22, 2015 at 4:35 p.m.
POLK CITY – At the crack of dawn,
construction workers are standing on top of
what will soon be the Donald Bronson
Community Center and storm shelter, piecing
together the walls, roof and interior.
Their deadline is hard and fast — in 90 days,
they want to have the project completed if
weather permits.
The center is the brainchild of local rancher
MICHAEL WILSON | THE LEDGER
Construction work continues on the Donald
Bronson Community Center in Polk City.
Don Bronson, who is paying out of his own pocket to build it. It will serve as a storm
shelter for Polk City and also as a community center for various town activities. The
project is contracted with Auburndale-based Integrity Homes & Construction, Inc.,
which is subcontracting workers from around the area to help build the center.
They are expected to have subcontracted with at least 100 workers during the time
they are building the center, with 10 to 12 workers each day.
As a storm shelter, the building will be able to withstand 170 mile-per-hour winds
and hold 237 people inside, Bronson said.
"The city needed a place where people can come and gather when a hurricane
comes," he said. "The school is not a storm shelter. The government center is not a
storm shelter. There is no place for people to go."
The center will be 5,000 square feet on a 9,700-square-foot piece of land right across
from City Hall. There will be bathrooms inside, seats and eventually tables. There
will also be a small stage area.
Bronson donated the money for the center because he wants to help out the city. He
approached Mayor Joe LaCascia at the diner and the two hashed out the idea for the
community center and storm shelter — a need in the community due to many
residents living in mobile home parks and not having a safe place to go during a
hurricane.
"I wanted to do something for the people of Polk City," he said. "This is my city. It's a
small, good, clean city and that's why I like it. I was born here, and I plan to die
here."
A three-party agreement was worked out between the city, Bronson and land-owners
Kaz Properties LLC, who owned the portion of land behind City Hall where the
community center is being built.
The construction is coming after two years of planning and discussions with the City
Commission over where it would be built and land agreements with the neighboring
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Hungry Howie's restaurant, in which City Manager Patricia Jackson said they traded
portions of land in order to get the right-sized parcel for the community center.
Initially, there was some concern over the project — including who would pay for
upkeep once the center was constructed since the city would be responsible for
operating the center, including utilities and maintenance.
"The city will pay for the upkeep," Jackson said.
She said revenue would be generated by renting out the center for private events to
residents.
Several residents, thinking about the town's dire financial straits at the tail end of
2013 when the project was proposed, thought the idea of a community center was
"unnecessary." However, Jackson said the city is much better off now and has no
problem going forward with the center.
Some of the lingering considerations include meeting building requirements for a
storm shelter from the Polk County building department. Once they have a
generator, Jackson said they will be good to go in that respect.
LaCascia, at the last commission meeting Feb. 16, had kind words about Bronson
and the shelter.
"Mr. Bronson has faith in Polk City," LaCascia said. "It's a testimony to how far we
have come, and that we have moved to a new place."
When asked how he could afford the money to donate for the center, Bronson
answered, "I worked all my life."
Larry Griffin covers Auburndale, Lake Hamilton and Polk City. He can be reached at
[email protected] or by phone at 863-401-6969.
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National Weather Service Issues Dense Fog
Advisory for Polk County
Published: Monday, February 23, 2015 at 7:13 a.m.
The National Weather Service has issued a dense fog advisory for Polk County.
High dew points and light winds have led to the development of dense fog in
widespread areas, and those conditions are expected to expand and cause low
visibility through mid-morning, officials say.
Drivers are cautioned that visibility could be reduced to a quarter-mile or less in
some areas, creating dangerous driving conditions.
The dense fog advisory is in effect until 10 a.m.
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© 2006 Plant Management Network.
Accepted for publication 11 May 2006. Published 22 August 2006.
Post-hurricane Analysis of Citrus Canker Spread
and Progress towards the Development of a
Predictive Model to Estimate Disease Spread Due
to Catastrophic Weather Events
Michael Irey and Tim R. Gottwald, USDA, Agricultural Research
Service, Ft. Pierce, FL 34945; James H. Graham, University of
Florida, IFAS, Citrus Research and Education Center, Lake Alfred, FL
33850; Tim D. Riley, USDA, Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service, Orlando, FL 32807; and Greg Carlton, Florida Department
of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry,
Arcadia, FL 34266
Corresponding author: Michael Irey. [email protected]
Irey, M., Gottwald, T. R., Graham, J. H., Riley, T. D., and Carlton, G. 2006. Post-hurricane
analysis of citrus canker spread and progress towards the development of a predictive
model to estimate disease spread due to catastrophic weather events. Online. Plant Health
Progress doi:10.1094/PHP-2006-0822-01-RS.
Abstract
Many factors have been involved in the spread of citrus canker (Xanthomonas
axonopodis pv. citri); however, the 2004 hurricane season appears to have been
one of the major factors leading to the widespread and numerous citrus canker
infections discovered in late 2004 and 2005. Geospatially referenced citrus canker
infection data from infections that were discovered after the 2004 hurricanes
were examined in relation to wind and rain conditions experienced during the
hurricanes and used to develop a predictive model to explain storm-related
spread of citrus canker. The model incorporates a "threshold" concept for wind
and rains that, in-effect, incorporates only biologically significant weather
parameters in the calculations. When applied to three distinct areas of the state,
the predictive model accounted for approximately 80% of the hurricane related
and subsequent secondary spread of citrus canker over the next 14 months.
Therefore, the use of the predictive model shows great promise a tool to predict
disease spread as a result of extreme weather events and as a means of targeting
resources for citrus canker survey and detection activities.
Introduction
The bacterium, Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri (Xac), that causes Asiatic
citrus canker (ACC) can be dispersed in gentle rain, rain with wind, rain storms,
tropical storms, and hurricanes. These meteorological events are progressively
more effective at dispersing inoculum over greater distances. Apart from
dispersal during meteorological events, inoculum can be dispersed mechanically
from within-trees to very long distance dispersal through human activities,
including the movement of infected plant material over short distances (local) to
long range dispersal (global = among countries and continents). From an
epidemiological point of view, epidemics of ACC are composed of a series of
discontinuous pulses of inoculum that first introduce Xac to the host
population, with a combination of multiple meteorological and mechanical
events that further disperse inoculum and exacerbate the epidemic. However,
dispersal events vary greatly in distance and quantity of inoculum dispersed.
Historically, numerous storm and mechanical transmission events have
contributed to the spatial distribution and patterns of spread of citrus canker in
Florida (6). In particular, three hurricanes (Charley, Frances, and Jeanne) that
crossed the Florida peninsula during 2004 exacerbated preexisting ACC
infections and dispersed the pathogen extremely widely and resulted in the
establishment of numerous new infections at substantial distances from the preexisting infections.
Plant Health Progress
22 August 2006
History of Multiple Citrus Canker Epidemics in Florida
ACC has a long history in Florida. The disease was first found around 1912
spread throughout the southeastern U.S. on imported seedlings from Japan, and
was declared eradicated from Florida and the adjacent states by 1933 (5,12).
ACC was rediscovered in Manatee Co., Florida south of Tampa Bay in 1986, and
was declared eradicated by 1994 (20). Three years later, the disease re-emerged
in the same general area on the west coast of Florida where the 1980s outbreak
had occurred. In the meantime, a new and separate infection of ACC was
discovered in urban Miami in 1995, with an estimated introduction some time in
1992 or 1993 (7,16,17,18).
When detected in Miami in 1995, the disease was contained in an area of
approximately 36.3 km2 (14 mile2) of mostly residential properties southwest of
the Miami International Airport. To deal with this epidemic, a cooperative
state/federal citrus canker eradication program (CCEP) was established between
the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS),
Division of Plant Industry (DPI), and the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).
Concurrently, ACC was rediscovered in commercial citrus in Manatee Co. on the
west coast of Florida in June 1997. Subsequent outbreaks of ACC have occurred
in both residential and commercial citrus in most counties in the southern half
of Florida. The origins of inoculum for this nearly state-wide epidemic are
believed to be related predominantly to the inoculum reservoir in residential
Dade and Broward counties (4). Extensive eradication efforts from 1995 to the
present have resulted in the removal or destruction of 6,993,651 commercial
trees, 4,224,175 commercial nursery trees, and 844,327 infected and exposed
dooryard citrus trees statewide. Following the 2004 hurricane season, over
25,779 ha (63,701 acres) of commercial citrus trees have been removed or are
scheduled to be removed in an effort to eradicate the disease from commercial
plantings.
The situation in Florida was exacerbated by the introduction of the Asian
citrus leafminer (Phyllocnistis citrella Stainton) in 1993. ACC has increased
significantly as a consequence of the insect’s feeding activities which create
wounds that expose susceptible leaf mesophyll tissues to splashed inoculum,
thus increasing the probability of infection by Xac (10). Whereas foliar wounds
on citrus leaves normally callus within 1 to 2 days, leafminer induced wounds
resist callus formation for about 14 days, allowing the highly susceptible
mesophyll tissues to be exposed for a much longer time (1,2).
ACC is characterized by erumpent lesions on fruit, foliage, and young stems
of susceptible cultivars of citrus (8,18). Unfortunately, most commercial citrus
varieties grown in Florida are moderately to highly susceptible to the disease,
especially grapefruit (Citrus paradisi) and early and mid-season maturing
cultivars of sweet orange (C. sinensis). When the disease is severe, defoliation,
dieback, and fruit drop (reducing yield quantity) can occur and infected fruit
that remain are often scarred with lesions (reducing yield quality) and therefore
less valuable or entirely unmarketable (8,11). In addition, strict international
trade regulations in some regions prohibit export of fruit from canker-endemic
areas, further restricting potential markets (7,9). This results in even greater
financial impact as many of these markets pay a premium price for fresh citrus.
If Xac should become endemic in Florida, it will result in a severe curtailment of
commerce in fresh citrus fruit, which comprises approximately 20% of the
State’s $9 billion commercial citrus industry (13,14). Furthermore, highly
susceptible cultivars, including grapefruit, will be difficult to impossible to grow
profitably due to the cost of canker management, including the need for
expensive bactericidal sprays that would be required to maintain yields and
quality.
During seasons when spring and summer rains are combined with wind
speeds in excess of 8 m/s (17.9 mph), damage from the disease can range from
nominal to significant (19). Recently, it was demonstrated that inoculum begins
to exude from wetted lesions within 1 to 5 minutes and is immediately available
for dispersal. During a simulated 54-h continuous rainstorm with continual
inoculum removal, the maximum concentration of bacteria was exuded within
the first one to two hour period following the beginning of the rain, although
22 August 2006
inoculum was produced continuously at a lower concentration for the duration
of the experiment (3).
The dramatic increase in disease incidence subsequent to the hurricanes of
2004 instigated the current research in an attempt to understand the patterns of
disease spread resulting from extreme storm events. The purpose of this study
was to firstly develop a model to assess spread of ACC during catastrophic
wind/rain events and secondly to attempt to validate the model based on poststorm ACC infections identified by the CCEP.
Estimation of Citrus Canker Spread via Hurricanes and
Development of Wind/Rain Index Vectors
2004 hurricane season. During the 2004 hurricane season, three
hurricanes significantly affected the citrus production areas of Florida (Fig. 1).
On August 13, hurricane Charley made landfall on the lower west coast of
Florida and crossed the state on a northeasterly track (Fig. 2a), taking the
hurricane over the southern, western, central, and northern citrus production
areas. On September 5, hurricane Frances made landfall in the Treasure Coast
area on the east coast of Florida and crossed the state on a northwesterly track
(Fig. 2b), taking the hurricane primarily over the Indian River, central, western,
and northern citrus production regions. On September 25, hurricane Jeanne
made landfall in essentially the same area as hurricane Frances and again
crossed the state on a northwesterly track over the same production areas (Fig.
2c). At the time of all three hurricanes, Xac infections, either known at the time
of the hurricane or discovered after the hurricane but with estimated ages of
infection that pre-dated the storms, were present in some of the production
areas.
Fig. 1. Citrus production areas in Florida.
22 August 2006
Fig. 2. Paths followed by the three hurricanes that had an impact on Florida
citrus production areas during 2004.
Citrus canker eradication program surveys. Disease detection surveys
conducted as part of the ACC eradication program were conducted jointly by
FDACS, which was responsible for general surveys in commercial groves and
residential properties, and by USDA-APHIS, which was responsible for sentinel
surveys in both residential and commercial citrus groves. General surveys were
conducted at yearly intervals with the intent that a portion of every commercial
grove and all trees on residential properties (in target areas) would be surveyed
at least once a year. Sentinel surveys were conducted more frequently; however,
not all groves or residential properties were visited. Instead, the intent was to
target geographic areas by preferentially selecting susceptible cultivars in
plantings (both residential and commercial) that were stratified across the
survey area. When infected plants were found in either survey (general or
sentinel), the intensity and the frequency of the survey were increased until the
extent of the infected area was delimited. As infected trees were found, their
positions were recorded by GPS equipment. When the number of infected trees
was small or when the infected trees were on residential properties, GPS
coordinates were collected for all infected trees. However, if the number of
infected trees was large (in commercial groves), GPS coordinates were collected
only from trees that defined the outer edges of the area infected within the
property. The GPS data points from both residential and commercial finds were
entered into a geographic information system (GIS) database and these data
were used for subsequent vector analyses.
Citrus canker study areas. Based on post-storm surveys over a 14-month
period, three areas with canker infection were studied to determine the impact
of hurricanes on the subsequent spread of ACC as a result of the storm events.
The first area of study consisted of a three-county area comprised by Indian
River, St. Lucie, and Martin counties, collectively known as the Treasure Coast
(Fig. 3). The second and third areas of study were in Lee/Charlotte and Orange
counties, respectively (Fig. 3). These three areas were selected for study based
on two criteria. The first criterion was the detection of numerous new Xac
infections within the area during the 14-month period of time following the
2004 hurricanes. The second, and probably the most important criterion, was
the identification, sometimes after the fact, of trees with infections that predated
the 2004 storms. Infection aging was based on an estimate of the age of the
branches on which lesions were found in relation to the known flush and growth
patterns of citrus trees in the area (Xac only tends to infect fresh flush or injured
tissue). Trees with lesions that pre-dated the 2004 hurricanes were assumed to
be the initial foci of infection for subsequent spread as a result of the storms.
22 August 2006
Fig. 3. Areas where studies were made to determine the
impact of hurricane events on the spread of citrus canker
during 2004-2005.
In the Treasure Coast area, two trees in close proximity to each other were
identified as pre-dating hurricanes Frances and Jeanne and all subsequent
infections that were detected in the three-county area were assumed to have
originated due to direct spread from these two trees as a result of the storm(s)
and from subsequent secondary spread that occurred over the ensuing 14-month
period as a result of secondary weather events, mechanical spread, and other
unidentified mechanisms of spread. This assumption is based on the
observation that all infections identified in the area of study other than the two
trees identified as the foci of infection were infections that post-dated the
hurricane spread events (i.e., infections were found on flushes that were
contemporaneous with or occurred after the hurricane events). In the second
area of study, approximately 17 trees were identified in Lee Co. that pre-dated
hurricane Charley. All the infection that was detected in the two-county area was
assumed to have originated due to direct spread from these 17 trees as a result of
the storm and other post-storm secondary spread over a 14-month period. In the
third study area, several discrete areas of infection were found that were traced
back to single trees in each of the areas that pre-dated hurricane Charley. Data
from the two largest areas of infection in Orange Co. (identified as areas 4 and 6
by the USDA-APHIS survey teams) were studied.
Weather data. Weather data were collected from weather stations located
in close proximity to the three study areas where ACC was detected during the
post storm surveys. Data were collected by automated weather stations operated
by the Florida Automated Weather Network (FAWN, fawn.ifas.ufl.edu) or from
weather stations operated as part of the Citizen Weather Observer Program
(CWOP, www.wxqa.com). The FAWN network consists of 34 weather stations
located primarily at University of Florida research stations and is geared
towards agricultural users and are therefore largely located in agricultural areas.
CWOP weather stations are privately operated weather stations operated by
amateur radio operators whose data are made available to the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). CWOP stations are primarily located
in urban areas and their data are checked for quality by NOAA and then
redistributed to users. The weather data used were collected at hourly intervals
over the time period of the hurricanes and consisted of rainfall per hour plus
wind speed and wind direction both collected at a 9.14-m (30-ft) elevation.
Calculation of vectors and indices. Wind-rain index vectors (WRIV)
were calculated based on the concept of a "wind rose" analysis (Fig. 4)
commonly used for presenting wind speed, wind direction, and wind duration
data all incorporated into a single graph. However, instead of using wind speed
22 August 2006
in the calculations, a wind-rain index (Iwr) using predetermined thresholds was
calculated and substituted for the wind speed value normally used in a wind rose
analysis. The assumption behind the use of Iwr was that both wind (w) and rain
(r) must occur at the same time in order for Xac to be dispersed further than a
few meters. Therefore Iwr would account for both meteorological conditions that
must be present in order for long-distance spread to occur.
To determine the WRIV that occurred during a storm event, individual Iwr
values were calculated for each hour of weather data using the formula:
Iwr = 100*[(w/wmax)*(r/rmax)]
where, wmax = 33.5 m/s (75 mph), rmax = 5.08 cm/h (2.0 inches/h). To obtain
values for w and r, the windspeed and rainfall amounts were compared to predetermined threshold wind and rainfall values. If w ≥ threshold then w =
windspeed and if r ≥ threshold then r = rainfall. However, if w < threshold or if
r < threshold, then w = 0 or r = 0, respectively.
Fig. 4. A wind rose diagram depicting the distribution of wind direction and
speed in the Treasure Coast area during hurricanes Frances (4-5 August 2004)
and Jeanne (24-25 August 2004). The wind vectors are in 15 degree
increments and are expressed in a "blowing to" orientation.
The Iwr and the wind direction data associated with the Iwr were plotted using
commercially available wind rose software (WRPlot View, Lakes Environmental
Software, Ontario, Canada) in 15° wind direction increments in a "blowing to"
orientation (i.e., Iwr presented as flow vectors). Since a threshold concept was
used in the calculations, for any time period for which either w or r values did
not meet or exceed the thresholds, the Iwr would reduce to zero and thus would
drop out of the calculation leaving only those WRIV in the wind rose that could
potentially spread Xac. Therefore the wind rose calculated using Iwr results in a
diagram that only presents biologically significant meteorological events (Fig. 5).
In a wind rose analysis calculated using the Iwr concept, the direction of
potential spread is indicated by the compass direction of the "blowing to" vector,
the relative potential to spread is indicated by the numerical index of the Iwr
(represented by a color scale), and the relative duration of conditions favorable
for spread is represented by the length of the "blowing to" vector.
22 August 2006
Fig. 5. A wind rose diagram depicting WRIV in the Treasure Coast area during
hurricanes Frances (4-5 August 2004) and Jeanne (24-25 August 2004) using
w = 8 m/s (17.9 mph) and r = 0.318 (0.125 inch/h). The wind vectors are in
15 degree increments and are expressed in a "blowing to" orientation.
Determination of w and r thresholds. To determine the thresholds for
w (wind speed) and r (accumulated rainfall volume for a 1.0-h period) variables
for use in the calculation, the distribution of infection data for the Treasure
Coast area from the citrus canker surveys were plotted (Fig. 6) using
commercially available GIS software (ArcMap 9.0, ESRI, Redlands, CA). WRIV
were computed with Iwr using all possible combinations of w = 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12
m/s (8.9, 13.4, 17.9, 22.4, and 26.8 mph) and r = 0.16, 0.318, 0.477, 0.635,
0.795, and 0.953 cm/h (0.063, 0.125, 0.188, 0.250, 0.313, and 0.375 inch/h) as
thresholds. FAWN weather data from the Fort Pierce station were used for all
calculations at the Treasure Coast study site. This station was located
approximately 14.16 km (8.8 miles) from the pre-storm foci of infection. Due to
the propinquity of the hurricane tracks and the fact that hurricane Jeanne
occurred within a few weeks of hurricane Frances the weather data from both
storms were combined in these analyses.
22 August 2006
Fig. 6. Location of citrus canker infected trees and the presumed
initial foci of infection in the Treasure Coast Area.
For all WRIV computed, the length of the vectors was set at 56.3km (35
miles). This assumption was based on an observation from the Lee/Charlotte
Co. area of study that indicated that distances of spread could be up to 56.3 km
as result of hurricane induced wind and rain (Irey and Gottwald, unpublished).
The WRIV for individual w and r threshold combinations in the wind rose plots
were overlaid on the infection data in the GIS plots using the foci of infection in
each study area as the origin for the WRIV (Fig. 7). The percentage of GPS data
points (representing infected trees) overlaid by the WRIV compared to the total
number of GPS data points in the Treasure Coast area of study was used as the
measure of the "goodness of fit" of the model for each combination of w and r
thresholds (Fig. 8). Thresholds of w = 8 m/s (17.9 mph) and r = 0.318 cm/h
(0.125 inch/h) were selected as the thresholds for use in subsequent analyses.
This combination of thresholds resulted in the smallest set of WRIV that
captured the largest percentage of infected trees (82.8%). Due to the
methodology used in the commercial grove surveys (i.e., in some instances, only
the perimeter of the infected area was delimited by GPS points), it is likely that
the estimates of percent capture are an underestimation of the actual number of
trees captured by the WRIV.
22 August 2006
Fig. 7. WRIV for the Treasure Coast area using w = 8 m/s (17.9
mph) and r = 0.318 cm/h (0.125 inch/h) as thresholds to calculate
Iwr. Individual WRIV were extended 35 miles in each "blowing to"
direction. Percent capture of infected trees by WRIV = 82.8%.
Fig. 8. Percentage of infected trees captured by WRIV using
different combinations of w and r thresholds in the calculation of
Iwr for vectors in the treasure Coast area.
Calculated citrus canker spread vectors using thresholds for the
treasure coast area applied to the Lee/Charlotte and Orange County
study areas. The WRIVs, using Iwr calculated with w = 8 m/s (17.9 mph) and r
= 0.318 cm/h (0.125 inch/h) as thresholds estimated from the Treasure Coast
data, were applied to weather data from hurricane Charley for the Lee/Charlotte
and Orange County study areas. Both of these areas were residential areas and
CWOP weather data were used in the analyses. Numerous power failures
associated with hurricane Charley made it difficult to find complete weather
22 August 2006
data sources in the area of study for the desired time period. For the
Lee/Charlotte County area, a CWOP station located in Naples, FL,
approximately 50 km (31 mi) south of the foci of infection and 34 km (21 mi)
east of the track of the storm was used for the WRIV computations. Although it
would have been desirable to have weather data from a source closer to the foci
of infection, this was the only station that could be located with complete data
for August 13, 2004 (hurricane Charley). Similarly, it was difficult obtain data
for the Orange County area. The closest station to the areas of study in Orange
County had incomplete data so data from the two closest stations
(approximately 24 and 34 km [15 and 21 mi] away) were combined to calculate
the WRIV.
WRIV calculated using Iwr with w = 8 m/s (17.9 mph) and r = 0.318 cm/h
(0.125 inch/h) as thresholds for the Lee/Charlotte County study area (Fig. 9)
captured 86.3% of the infected trees identified in the residential ACC surveys.
Similarly, WRIV calculated using the same thresholds for Orange County (Fig.
10) captured 79.5% and 81.8% of the infected trees in the two residential sub
areas studied. Unlike the commercial grove surveys, the residential citrus canker
surveys identified all infected trees found with GPS points therefore the ~ 80%
combined capture calculations accurately represents the extent of the known
infected trees overlaid by the WRIV estimates. Although this method explained a
relatively high percentage of the subsequent infections that developed and were
discovered, some of the subsequent infection fell outside of the predicted
vectors. This could be due to the intent to make the vector predictions
conservative (i.e., the smallest set of WRIV that captured the largest percentage
of infected trees was used) and not over predict the affected area. However, the
data include not only infections representing spread due to the hurricanes
themselves but also takes into account infections resulting from secondary
spread that occurred post-hurricane(s) during the following 14 months. Thus
some of the secondary spread events could have taken inoculum beyond the
bounds of the vectors predicted by meteorological conditions associated with
only the main meteorological event, i.e., the hurricane(s).
Fig. 9. WRIV for the Lee/Charlotte County area using w = 8 m/s (17.9 mph)
and r = 0.318 cm/h (0.125 inch/h) as thresholds to calculate Iwr. Individual
WRIV were extended 50 km (35 mi) in each "blowing to" direction. Percent
capture of infected trees by WRIV = 86.3%.
22 August 2006
Fig. 10. WRIV for the Orange County area using w = 8 m/s (17.9 mph) and r
= 0.318 cm/h (0.125 inch/h) as thresholds to calculate Iwr. Individual WRIV
were extended 50 km (35 mi) in each "blowing to" direction. Percent capture
of infected trees by WRIV for Area 4 = 79.5%. Percent capture of infected
trees by WRIV for Area 6 = 81.8%.
Discussion and Application of WRIV Calculations to Direct
Survey Efforts and Search for Pre-Hurricane Citrus Canker Foci
The fact that hurricanes and other severe weather events have had a
significant impact on the incidence of citrus canker in Florida is apparent.
However, predicting the magnitude and the direction of spread due to these
extreme weather events has been difficult due to the complexity of the wind and
rain patterns associated with each storm. For example, in a "typical" hurricane,
wind directions can be in exact opposite directions depending on which side of
the hurricane track is being monitored. This is due to the counter-clockwise
rotation of storms in the northern hemisphere. Similarly, if the measurement
site is directly on the track of the storm, high winds and rains will be
experienced in one direction, followed by a lull (as the eye of the storm passes
over), and then again followed by high winds and rain from the opposite
direction. Therefore, depending on the location of an individual site in relation
to the storm track, it is possible that high winds and rains may be experienced
from a range of directions (Fig. 11). Further complicating the issue is the fact
that that sufficient wind and rain to cause dispersal may not occur together, so
measurement of wind alone cannot accurately predict spread. However, the use
of the WRIVs calculated using Iwr, which incorporates both wind and rain in the
calculation, appears to show promise as a tool to predict the spread of citrus
canker.
22 August 2006
Fig. 11. Radar loop of hurricane Wilma as it
passed over south Florida on August 24,
2005.
Multiple new infections of ACC were discovered in commercial citrus
plantations and residential areas over the 14 months following the three
hurricanes in 2004. New infections occurred in areas previously believed to be
free of ACC and at considerable distance from any known sources of infection.
Determining the location of the unknown sources of inoculum that gave rise to
these newly infected trees and the removal of these sources is a necessity for
effective eradication of the disease. The WRIV calculation method was employed
to delimit suspect survey areas and direct CCEP survey crew efforts. This was
achieved by using the GPS location of new post-hurricane citrus canker
infections [infections determined to have occurred subsequent to the passing of
the hurricane(s)] as a focal point, and generating the Iwr and wind rose to
determine the associated vectors(s) for the storm(s) that impacted that area.
However, the vectors were reversed toward the "blowing from" direction, i.e.,
toward a suspected source of infection. These vectors were then transferred to a
GIS map of the area and overlayed on commercial and residential citrus
plantings. Thus the vectors were intended to backtrack over a potential dispersal
gradient, toward the pre-hurricane inoculum source. This methodology was
applied on several occasions to identify pre-hurricane foci of infection that could
subsequently be used to further delimit the areas that must be surveyed.
An example of how this method was applied is in Polk County (Fig. 12A).
Numerous post-storm, infections were found following the 2004 hurricanes,
however, there was no apparent link or pattern between them. Using WRIVs
calculated for hurricane Charley for several weather sites surrounding the
infections in Polk County (Fig. 12B) it was possible to identify the direction that
potential inoculum would have originated from. Using this information, the
infections that were found post-storm were re-evaluated and it was possible to
determine which of the infections was likely to predate the storm (Fig. 12C). In
the case of Polk County, it was determined that much of the infection in Polk
County originated from a pre-storm infection located at the southern edge of the
county.
22 August 2006
Fig. 12. Example of the application of WRIVs
to post-storm discoveries of citrus canker in
Polk County.
(A) Post-storm citrus canker infections
relative to the track of hurricane Charley.
(B) At the time of the initial discovery of the
infections, there was no indication of the
original foci of inoculum. Using weather data
from weather data sites near the known
infections, midpoint rays of the WRIV were
plotted.
(C) These rays when considered in a
"blowing from" indicate the direction of
potential initial inoculum sources. Consensus
WRIV were calculated and applied to known
infections. The infection sites were reevaluated to determine the age of infections
and likely pre-storm infection sites were
identified.
When pre-hurricane foci were detected, the method was deployed yet again.
This time vectors were calculated using the GPS location of the pre-hurricane
point of disease, calculating the Iwr and windrose and giving the vector a
"blowing to" orientation. In this way, a new search area was delimited for CCEP
survey crews to attempt to find additional new post-hurricane infections that
could also have arisen from the newly discovered pre-hurricane focus. An
example of how this process was used occurred in Hardee County. WRIVs were
calculated for all three 2004 storms and examined in relation to known prestorm infections (Fig. 13a). Using existing grove data to locate groves planted to
susceptible cultivars located within the predominant WRIV, CCEP personnel
were directed to search groves within the WRIV and they were immediately able
to locate new ACC infections (Fig. 13b).
22 August 2006
Fig. 13. Example of the application of WRIVs to post-storm
discoveries of citrus canker in Hardee County. (A) WRIVs were
calculated for hurricanes Charley, Frances, and Jeanne in a
"blowing from" orientation. (B) The predominant vector indicated
that canker infection was likely in a NNW direction. CCEP personnel
then inspected a grove planted with a susceptible cultivar in line
with the predominant WRIV and were able to identify a new citrus
canker infection.
Such ‘targeting’ of CCEP survey efforts is of considerable benefit because it
greatly reduces the survey effort to the most critical survey search area,
providing a higher probability of finding both new and older but previously
unknown infections, making more efficient use of CCEP personnel and fiscal
resources. The targeted survey augments the other surveying methodologies for
more rapid and complete detection of citrus canker in an area.
The application of this calculated Iwr method to track the spread of ACC (and
possibly other diseases or pests) will undoubtedly be useful in the future, since
NOAA has determined that the annual occurrence of hurricanes and tropical
storms has been escalating since 1995 and that the U.S. is experiencing an
anticipated 30-year period of increased Atlantic and Gulf hurricane activity (15).
This long-term forecast makes it quite realistic to assume that extreme storm
activity will continue to be a major factor affecting the spread of ACC in Florida.
22 August 2006
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and Ducharme, E. P. 1987. Citrus canker in Florida. Plant Dis. 71:388-395.
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The influence of wind on the infection of citrus canker. Bull. Shizuoka Prefect.
Citrus Exp. Stn. Komagoe Shimizu City, Japan 11:54-67.
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citrus canker in Florida. Annu. Rev. Phytopathol. 29:399-420.
22 August 2006
New Trap Advances War Against Dangerous
Citrus Psyllid
By Kevin Bouffard
THE LEDGER
Published: Sunday, February 22, 2015 at 12:49 a.m.
WINTER HAVEN | If you build a better psyllid
trap, the world probably won't beat a path to
your door, but more than a few citrus people
might come knocking.
That's the hope of researchers at the Florida
Department of Agriculture and Consumer
Services, who've designed and built a better
insect trap with 3D printing technology. The
"SmartTrap" is designed specifically to trap the
PHOTOS PROVIDED TO THE LEDGER
TECHNICIAN TONY DICKENS inspects a
SmartTrap prototype
Asian citrus psyllid, the insect responsible for
spreading the bacterial disease citrus greening.
"This technology is a gigantic leap forward," said Florida Agriculture Commissioner
Adam Putnam, the department's CEO, in a news statement announcing the
discovery. "This 3D printing innovation gives our scientists the best chance to find a
game-changing breakthrough in the fight against citrus greening."
Greening weakens a citrus tree, causing extensive fruit drop before harvest, and
eventually kills it. Since greening arrived in Florida in 2005, the disease has cut the
annual Florida harvest of oranges, grapefruit and tangerines by more than half.
The department has received a five-year, $200,000 grant from the U.S. Department
of Agriculture to continue improving SmartTrap's design while manufacturing and
distributing the current prototype to researchers in citrus-producing areas, including
California and Texas, said Trevor Smith, chief of the Bureau of Methods
Development and Biological Control at the Florida Agriculture Department, who has
overseen the 3-year-old project.
SmartTrap represents an advance over the standard yellow sticky traps, similar to fly
paper, that are hung in groves to collect psyllids for research and to measure the
extent of infestation, said Smith, who has a doctorate in entomology and lots of
experience with sticky traps.
A major improvement with SmartTrap is that 99 percent of the insects collected are
psyllids, a pin-sized insect that arrived in Florida in 1998, he said. Sticky traps
capture not only other insects but lizards and other small creatures, not to mention
dirt, making them difficult to work with.
Psyllids host the greening bacteria and are the main vehicle in spreading the disease.
Greening has infected virtually every acre among Florida's 515,147 commercial grove
acres.
Another SmartTrap advantage is its ability to keep the psyllids alive until collected.
"The traps also preserve the psyllids, unlike the yellow sticky traps, which leave
psyllids exposed to the elements where they quickly decompose and are virtually
1 of 3
2/22/2015 9:57 AM
impossible to remove from the entangling glue for further analysis," according to the
Agriculture Department statement.
Under the hot sun in Florida, California and Texas, psyllids and other insects
decompose within 24 hours on the sticky traps, said Russell Mizell, an entomologist
at the University of Florida's North Florida Research and Education Center in
Quincy who helped design the initial SmartTrap prototypes.
SmartTrap contains a liquid chemical that preserves the insects until collected.
"There are no other traps in the world like that trap," said Mizell, who has designed
hundreds of insect traps during his 45-year career. "People have said my trademark
is I think like a bug, and I take that as a compli-ment."
Researchers in California and Texas find preserving the psyllid particularly useful
because they're still testing insects to determine whether they are carrying greening
bacteria, Smith said. Greening surfaced in those states only in 2012, and citrus
officials are still tracking the spread of the disease.
California and Texas will receive about 20 SmartTraps each to be manufactured in
the first year of the program, he added.
Using 3D printing technology to design and manufacture all the trap's parts is
perhaps the most innovative aspect of the program, Smith said. The department
purchased a printer for $3,000.
"Once we realized 3D printers are very affordable, we realized we can print these
traps," he said. "We took the 3D printing and ran with it."
Mizell and entomologists Susan Halbert of the Florida Agriculture Department
designed SmartTrap's first prototypes with cardboard and plastic cups, Ezell and
Smith said. After hundreds of those crude prototypes, Ezell and department
technicians refined the design with 3D printing software.
The 3D printing system allows department researchers to make further design
improvements based on actual experience with SmartTraps in the field, Smith said.
Printing all the parts for one trap takes about eight hours.
"Whatever changes we have, we can do it immediately," Smith said.
With traditional plastics manufacturing, which involves making a new mold with
each modification, "making a change is a big deal," he added.
Department researchers are continuing to tweak the design, experimenting with
shapes, textures, colors, lights and chemical attractants, Smith said. That will
contribute to knowledge of the insect's behavior in the field, which should lead to
better control and prevention measures beyond pesticides.
"We've known the psyllid moves around at night; we don't know how much," he said.
"We know yellow works well (as an attractant) but maybe green works better, or
maybe green with ultraviolet light."
The SmartTrap announcement attracted the interest of two UF research entomologists.
"Possibly there is some utility for these traps as a research tool, given their ostensible
capacity to capture live insects," said Kirsten Pelz-Stelinski at the Citrus Research
and Education Center in Lake Alfred, who is researching biological controls against
the psyllid. "Any improvement in monitoring that benefits citrus pest management is
a welcome addition."
2 of 3
2/22/2015 9:57 AM
Phil Stansly at the Southwest Florida Research and Education Center in Immokalee
liked SmartTrap's ability to capture only psyllids.
"That would be a great improvement," he said. "I haven't seen the traps yet much
less tried them. If we found that they catch more psyllids than the standard yellow
sticky trap, we would definitely use them."
The trap may even help lead to an ultimate defense against greening, Mizell said.
"Probably the cure for citrus greening is going to come from the gene jockeys, either
something to do with changing the plant's genetics, changing the psyllid's genetics,
or both," he said. "Now they have a way to collect a lot of preserved psyllids."
[ Kevin Bouffard can be reached at [email protected] or at
863-401-6980. Read more on Florida citrus on his Facebook page, Florida Citrus
Witness, http://bit.ly/baxWuU. ]
3 of 3
2/22/2015 9:57 AM
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Florida facing threat from two mosquito-borne diseases | Reuters
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BY BARBARA LISTON
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(Reuters) - Two mosquito-borne diseases - dengue fever and chikungunya - are posing a
serious threat to Florida and residents should take steps to control mosquito populations to
try to limit the danger, a leading health expert said on Wednesday.
The Florida Department of Health, in its latest weekly report, said that through last week
dengue fever had been confirmed in 24 people in Florida and chikungunya confirmed in 18
people. Both are viral diseases spread by mosquito bites.
All of the infected people in Florida have traveled to the Caribbean or South America and
could have become infected there, according to Walter Tabachnick, director of the Florida
Medical Entomological Laboratory in Vero Beach, which is part of the University of Florida.
Epidemiologists are worried that mosquitoes in Florida may have picked up the diseases by
biting infected people, which could kick off an epidemic in the state, Tabachnick said.
"The threat is greater than I've seen in my lifetime," said Tabachnick, who has worked in the
field for 30 years.
"Sooner or later, our mosquitoes will pick it up and transmit it to us. That is the imminent
threat," he added.
Tabachnick urged the public to eliminate standing water including in buckets and rain
barrels where mosquitoes can breed. "If there is public apathy and people don't clean up the
yards, we're going to have a problem," Tabachnick said.
Dengue is potentially fatal, and both diseases cause serious and lingering symptoms. The
most common symptoms of chikungunya infection are fever and joint pain, according to the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Tabachnick said the last statewide epidemics in Florida of dengue occurred in the 1930s.
Localized epidemics of dengue occurred in 2013 in a small neighborhood in Jensen Beach
where 24 people were infected, and in 2009 and 2010 in Key West where 28 people were
infected, according to state and federal reports.
The Caribbean Public Health Agency said this week that authorities in 18 Caribbean
countries or territories had reported more than 100,000 confirmed or suspected cases of
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chikungunya.
In the Dominican Republic, where health officials reported more than 53,000 suspected
cases, hospitals in hard-hit areas are treating hundreds of new patients per day.
(Additional reporting by Ezra Fieser in Santo Domingo; Editing by David Adams and Will
Dunham)
FILED UNDER: U.S. HEALTH
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Florida Attorney General - Pill Mill Initiative - The Issue
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http://myfloridalegal.com/pages.nsf/Main/AA7AAF5CAA22638D8525...
Pill Mills
What are Pill Mills?
A "pill mill" is a doctor’s office, clinic, or health care facility that routinely conspires in the prescribing and
dispensing of controlled substances outside the scope of the prevailing standards of medical practice in the
community or violates the laws of the state of Florida regarding the prescribing or dispensing of controlled
prescription drugs.
Issue
In 2010, Florida led the nation in diverted prescription drugs, resulting in seven Floridians dying every day
and countless others throughout the nation. Our state had become the destination for distributors and
abusers through the proliferation of pill mills.
While legitimate pain-management clinics do exist to serve those with chronic pain or terminal illness, other
unscrupulous clinics, called pill mills, merely serve as drug traffickers. Common characteristics of pill mills
include: cash-only/no insurance; no appointments; armed guards; little or no medical records; grossly
inadequate physical examinations; and large prescription doses of narcotics that exceed the boundaries of
acceptable medical care.
The Facts
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has declared prescription drug abuse an epidemic in
America.
Florida was the epicenter of prescription drug diversion because – until recently – our state had weak
regulatory oversight of pain management practices, limited oversight of physician dispensing habits, and no
statewide Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP).
In 2010, pharmaceutical drug diversion meant an average of seven Floridians dying a day due to
2/18/2015 7:07 PM
2 of 3
prescription drug overdoses.
In 2010, there were more than 900 registered pain management clinics in Florida, but as of January 2014,
there were 367 registered pain management clinics in Florida.
Florida’s dubious distinction as the ‘epicenter’ of the nation’s ‘pill mill’ epidemic was solidified in 2010
when DEA’s Automation of Reports and Consolidated Orders System (ARCOS) reported that 98 of the top
100 oxycodone dispensing physicians in the nation were located in Florida. Today, none of the top 100
dispensing physicians reside in Florida.
2011 Anti-Pill Mill Bill
Attorney General Bondi worked with the Florida Legislature to pass legislation cracking down on Florida's
pill mills. Click here to read about the legislation.
Statewide Task Force on Prescription Drug Abuse and Newborns
Created during the 2012 legislative session, the Statewide Task Force on Prescription Drug Abuse and
Newborns is designed to examine the scope of the problem of prescription drug abuse by expectant mothers,
the costs associated with caring for babies with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS), the long-term
effects of NAS, as well as prevention strategies. Read more about the task force.
Congressional Testimony
March 2012 Testimony to the US House Energy & Commerce Committee
June 2014 Presentation to the US Senate Prescription Drug Abuse Working Group
Florida Toll Free Numbers:
- Fraud Hotline 1-866-966-7226
2/18/2015 7:07 PM
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- Lemon Law 1-800-321-5366
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appendix g - Polk County LMS

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