Country: United States

Title: Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata) – Removal of Quarantine Area in Solano and Los Angeles Counties, California

Contact:
Wayne Burnett, Domestic Coordinator, Fruit Fly Exclusion and Detection Programs, (301) 734-4387

Report: On September 20, 2007, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) designated portions of Solano County as Medfly-quarantined areas and applied phytosanitary restrictions on the interstate movement of articles from that area to prevent the spread of Medfly to noninfested areas of the United States. Then on November 8, 2007, APHIS designated portions of Los Angeles County as Medfly quarantine areas and applied the same restrictions. Further detections of Medflies caused the expansion of the quarantine area on December 12, 2007 and again on January 25, 2008. Since that time, APHIS has worked cooperatively with the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the County Agriculture Department of both Solano and Los Angeles counties to eradicate the transient population of Medfly from that area. This was accomplished through various population control actions, including the release of sterile Medflies and the application of foliar bait sprays.

Eradication was concluded after sufficient time passed without finding additional Medflies in the area. Specifically, an intensified fruit fly trap surveillance system was deployed and monitored for three life cycles, calculated through a modeling process specific for Medfly.

This action is effective immediately. This change to the quarantine area will be reflected on the following designated website which contains a description of all the current Federal fruit fly quarantine areas:

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/fruit_flies/index.shtml  

Under IPPC standards, Ceratitis capitata is considered to be a pest that is absent: eradicated from Solano and Los Angeles Counties, California in the United States.
 

Posted Date: Aug. 14, 2008, 9 a.m.