I think the line that got my attention, in our *friend's email was the note that infested trees were of course the most heavily damaged. 't sounds reasonable. Some sort of decontamination might be possible, but would be extremely expensive for a "cut-rate" product; and any storage, even temporary, in infested areas would make it rather difficult to assure their wasn't reinfestation in storage or in transit.

I haven't been able to determine how widely any new warnings have been issued, but the site that says it's been a confirmed problem at least since 2003 (the first TAMU link) makes the story we received pretty much credible.

* friend = actually her relative, but on reasonably friendly terms.

John