Country: United States

Title: Bactrocera dorsalis (Oriental fruit fly) - Removal of quarantine area in Los Angeles County, California

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

Report: Effective June 3, 2011, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) removed the Pasadena/San Marino area of Los Angeles County, California, as an Oriental fruit fly (OFF) quarantine area. As a result, there is no remaining OFF quarantine areas in Los Angeles County, California.

On August 9, 2010, APHIS designated portions of Los Angeles County as fruit fly-quarantine areas restricting the interstate movement of regulated articles from that area in order to prevent the spread of OFF to noninfested areas of the United States. 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 OFF populations through various control actions, including the application of male annihilation technique (MAT). MAT is the use of a high density of bait stations consisting of a male lure combined with an insecticide.

Eradication was concluded after sufficient time passed without finding additional OFF in those areas. Specifically, an intensified fruit fly trap surveillance system was deployed and monitored for three life cycles and calculated through a modeling process specific for OFF. Accordingly, APHIS removed the OFF quarantine in Los Angeles County on June 3, 2011. 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/quarantine.shtml

APHIS anticipates following this action with the publication of a notice in the Federal Register informing the public of this change.

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: July 11, 2011, 9 a.m.