Emerald ash borer traps like this one are up around Austin, but the insect hasn’t been found in Mower County. -- Herald file photo

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture confirmed the emerald ash borer has been found in Winona County. The department also detected the insect at another location in Houston County, the most southeastern county in Minnesota.

The Winona County infestation is in the Great River Bluffs State Park near Dakota. The Houston County detection is in Veterans Park in La Crescent.

The two new sites are eight miles apart. It’s the second detection in Houston County.

It’s the latest in a series of emerald ash borer infestations discovered in Minnesota since 2009.

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture has imposed a quarantine on Winona County, barring people from moving out of the county any items potentially infested with the emerald ash borer. That includes firewood, live ash trees and untreated ash lumber.

Jeanine Vorland, Department of Natural Resources area wildlife manager, said people should be extra careful moving wood the last few weeks this summer.

“We really have to be careful about moving ash, especially ash firewood,” Vorland said.

She added the Austin area has a heavy ash tree population, and finding emerald ash borers in the area would be disturbing, as oak wilt and Dutch Elm disease are already affecting trees locally.

With Labor Day weekend approaching, people need to take precaution hauling wood, Vorland said.

—The Associated Press contributed to this report.