NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- The East Tennessee counties of Bledsoe and Cumberland have been added to a quarantine for the emerald ash borer, an insect that destroys ash trees.
The quarantine has prohibited movement of firewood, ash nursery stock, ash timber and other material that can spread the insect.
Those with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture said the total number of Tennessee counties under a state and federal quarantine for the insect has risen to 41.
The agency said the emerald ash borer was introduced from Asia into the U.S. in the 1990s and was first detected in Tennessee in 2010 in Knox County. Officials used purple box traps placed in trees across the state to identify infestations.
The Agriculture Department said an ash borer can kill an ash tree in three years.
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