Country: United States

Title: Bactrocera dorsalis (Oriental fruit fly) – Removal of Quarantined Area in Los Angeles County, California - United States

Contact:
Wayne Burnett, APHIS Exotic Fruit Fly Director, Fruit Fly Exclusion and Detection Programs, (301) 734-4387

Report: The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has lifted its quarantine for Bactrocera dorsalis, the Oriental fruit fly (OFF), from Los Angeles County, California, effective June 22, 2009.

On August 27, 2008, APHIS designated portions of Los Angeles County as fruit fly quarantine area for OFF and applied restrictions on the interstate movement of regulated articles from that area to prevent the spread of OFF to non-infested areas of the United States. On October 21, 2008, the quarantine area was expanded to include a greater portion of Los Angeles County and portions of Orange County. Since that time, APHIS has worked cooperatively with the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the Los Angeles County Agricultural Commissioner to eradicate the transient population of OFF from that area through various population control actions, including the application of male annihilation technique.

Eradication was concluded after sufficient time passed without finding additional OFF 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 OFF. Accordingly, the OFF quarantine was lifted from Los Angeles County on June 22, 2009. This change to the quarantine area is 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, Bactrocera dorsalis is considered to be a pest that is absent: eradicated from Los Angeles County, California in the United States.
 

Posted Date: June 24, 2009, 9 a.m.