Asymptomatic spread of Huanglongbing and Implications for Disease Control

Huanglongbing (HLB, citrus greening) is a vector-transmitted disease that has nearly destroyed the citrus industry in Florida and is threatening other citrus-producing states. Recent research has shown that young flush shoots (newly emerging leaves) become infectious in a short amount of time after initial infection. In this talk we present a new model that incorporates this mechanism and demonstrates the impact on the asymptomatic spread of HLB in a grove. In particular, we show that an entire grove can become infected in less than one year, before most of the trees show any symptoms. We show that in this model, intervention strategies that significantly reduce the psyllid population during the flushing periods can delay infection of a full grove.