[Arid_gardener] Question from Home-Hort WWW page

[elstrang at cox.net]

Ellie Strang
85282
elstrang at cox.net

We had to remove a silk oak, nearly fifty years old, so quite large, that had been "sick" for a few years: dripping blood red sap, more recently dropping rotten branches, and when cut through showing rubbery peachy orange "goo" between the rings and under the bark in the upper reaches.  Questions:  Is this an infectious process that may spread to other trees (eg citrus)?  If so, can we disinfect some way?  Can we plant a fruit tree in the place of the silk oak? Non-tree plants?  
Thank you.