Trees in 5 Long Island towns riddled with invasive, tree-killing fungus
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation says five Suffolk towns are now under quarantine because of laurel wilt.
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Residents in some Suffolk towns need to be on the lookout for trees that might be infected with an invasive fungus.
The New York Department of Environmental Conservation says multiple Suffolk towns are now under quarantine because of laurel wilt.
Laurel wilt is a fungal disease that can kill trees and shrubs in the laurel family. It’s mostly spread by an invasive beetle.
The DEC says the disease was first found on Long Island last summer in areas including Dix Hills and Greenlawn.
Since then, it has spread to Babylon, Brookhaven, Huntington, Islip and Smithtown.
The DEC issued a quarantine to prohibit movement of select woody materials to slow the spread of the disease.
"We think that people are contributing to this by moving woody material that they don't know is infected or infested with the beetles and so this quarantine is just to prevent that movement so we can try to cut, contain the disease," says Amanda Dillon, with the state DEC.
This is the first time the disease has been found in New York, officials say, and the first time it has been detected anywhere north of Kentucky.
There is no proven treatment for the disease.
Some signs of the disease include sudden wilting of leaves, dark streaking of sapwood beneath the bark and small entry holes on branches, the trunk or roots.
