History and Chronology

November 8, 2001 — USDA expands quarantine areas in response to ALB infestation discoveries outside the quarantined areas in New York City, NY, and DuPage and Cook counties in Illinois. This action is necessary as USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service remains vigilant in its effort to prevent the artificial spread of this destructive pest to noninfested areas.

February 22, 2002 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Asian longhorned beetle Cooperative Eradication Program announces planned Imidacloprid trunk injection treatment of 46,000 susceptible trees in Illinois starting in the spring.

April 24, 2002 — USDA announces plans to treat 120,000 susceptible trees in New York this spring to prevent further infestation of the Asian longhorned beetle.

End of 2003 — Chicago is in its fourth year of treatment; New York completes 3 years in selected areas.

March 8, 2004 — USDA announces that it is reducing the existing Asian longhorned beetle quarantine boundaries in Illinois. Through intensive surveys and inspections, it is determined that the current quarantine encompassing Addison, in DuPage County, and the Village of Summit, in Cook County, no longer display evidence of ALB infestation and will be removed from the quarantined region of Illinois.

April 9, 2004 — USDA announces plans to treat 89,000 trees in the Illinois area that remain at risk of ALB infestation. In the same month, plans are announced to treat approximately 12,500 trees in Manhattan, 23,000 in Brooklyn, 24,500 in Queens, and 9,000 on Long Island. Treatment of approximately 900 trees in New Jersey is announced in June.

August 5, 2004 — ALB discovered in the Carteret Borough of Middlesex County in New Jersey. More ALBs are discovered in New Jersey later on this same month.

April 15, 2005 — USDA continues Imidacloprid tree injection treatments in Chicago, Illinois, and in Jersey City and Hoboken, New Jersey. Treatment of trees in Middlesex and Union counties of New Jersey begins in May.

January 27, 2006 — USDA's intensive surveys confirm ALB infestations in the Borough of Carteret and in the Avenel section of Woodbridge Township in Middlesex County, and in the cities of Rahway and Linden in Union County, prompting the need to enact a 12.1-square-mile quarantine to include these areas.

March 10, 2006 — USDA announces plans to treat approximately 51,000 trees susceptible to the ALB in New York this spring. The goal is to eliminate this destructive insect from New York City and Long Island before it can establish itself elsewhere.

March 23, 2006 — ALB infestation discovered in a separate area of Middlesex/Union County, New Jersey, prompting the expansion of the quarantined area to 20 square miles.

April 2006 — As part of an effort to educate the community and involve youth in the eradication efforts, USDA launches the Beetle Busters program throughout Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Park District's summer camps. Youth learn how to search for the ALB and report their findings.

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