- Pennsylvania says it has quarantined the movement of walnut lumber into and within the state after detecting Thousand Cankers Disease for the first time, in a tree in Plumbstead Township, in Bucks County, and verified by the USDA.

The quarantine also restricts the movement of walnut from states where Walnut trees are known to have the Thousand Cankers Disease - Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Washington.

Several other states enacted similar quarantines last month, including Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Indiana, Minnesota, North Carolina and Wisconsin.

The disease is caused when Walnut Twig Beetles, which carry a fungus, tunnel beneath the bark of walnut trees, causing small cankers to form. As more beetles attack the tree, the number of cankers increases, slowly starving the tree and killing it within 10 years of initial infestation. There is no known cure.

A sample was verified by the state and federal Departments of Agriculture.

"Thousand Cankers Disease poses a significant threat to Pennsylvania's $25 billion hardwoods industry," said Pennsylvania agriculture secretary George Greig.

The quarantine restricts the movement of all walnut material and lumber, including green lumber and firewood. It also covers other walnut material - living, dead, cut or fallen - including stumps, roots, branches, mulch and composted and uncomposted chips. 

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