Three more Illinois counties will soon be part of the growing list of locations under quarantine as Emerald Ash Borer continues to spread across Iowa and Illinois.
An Illinois Department of Agriculture employee discovered larva in Rock Island County that was confirmed September 27 to be EAB.
EAB was found in Jo Daviess and Whiteside counties earlier in the summer. The Whiteside County discovery came less than a week after EAB was found in Burlington.
An Iowa Department of Natural Resources official says most, if not all, of the ash trees in Burlington, Iowa will die from emerald ash borer in the next five to seven years and the infestation will spread across the state.
Firewood was quarantined there in July 2013. Scott County banned firewood from outside counties in and effort to try to prevent the spread of emerald ash borer.
EAB symptoms include cracking in the bark along a branch, yellowing and thinning of the tree’s crown, scrape marks left by woodpeckers seeking the EAB larvae and small D-shaped holes where the larvae exit the tree. The Emerald Ash Borer is native to Asia.
Officials in Iowa and Illinois have implemented quarantines to try to help prevent artificial, or "human-assisted," spread of the beetle via infested wood or plants. Quarantine prohibits the removal of any item made of ash wood or ash trees, logs or ash tree limbs and branches; as well as moving firewood out of a quarantined county.
Because of infestation in other area counties, officials in Scott County banned firewood brought in from outside of Scott County.
Illinois had 41 counties under quarantine and expected to add Rock Island, Whiteside and Jo Daviess counties to that list soon.