MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A highly contagious bacterial disease that seriously threatens the U.S. citrus industry has been found for the first time in Alabama.

The state Department of Agriculture and Industries says in a news release that federal and state plant officials confirm that citrus greening was found in leaf and insect samples at a home on Dauphin Island.

They’ve been checking regularly for the bacteria, since it has devastated the crop in neighboring Florida over the past decade.

Alabama authorities say a survey next month will check whether it has spread past the one yard.

There’s no cure. Infected trees are destroyed to keep it from spreading.

Fruit from infected trees is safe to eat, but unsightly lesions make it hard to sell. Infected trees eventually stop producing fruit and usually die within five years.