Removes Oriental Fruit Fly, Bactrocera dorsalis, Regulated Area in Orange and Los Angeles Counties, California

FOR INFORMATION AND ACTION

DA-2012-26
July 9, 2012

 

 

SUBJECT:  APHIS Removes Oriental Fruit Fly, Bactrocera dorsalis, Regulated Area in Orange and Los Angeles Counties, California

 

TO:  STATE AND TERRITORY AGRICULTURAL REGULATORY OFFICIALS

           

Effective June 26, 2012, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) removed the Anaheim area of Orange and Los Angeles Counties, California, from the Oriental Fruit Fly (OFF) regulated area.  As a result, there are no remaining OFF regulated areas in California.

 

On October 21, 2011, APHIS implemented the regulated area in the Anaheim area of Orange and Los Angeles Counties, California, restricting the interstate movement of regulated articles in order to prevent the spread of OFF to non-infested areas of the United States.  APHIS worked with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to eradicate the transient OFF population through various control actions, including high density trapping, fruit removal, regulatory and control measures, and foliar bait sprays near the detection sites.

 

Eradication was concluded after sufficient time passed without finding additional flies 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 regulated area in Orange and Los Angeles Counties on June 26, 2012. The removal of this regulated area is reflected on the following website, which contains a description of all the current Federal fruit fly regulated areas: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/fruit_flies/quarantine.shtml

 

For additional information on the removal of the OFF regulated area, you may contact John Stewart, APHIS Fruit Fly Program Manager, at (919) 855-7426.

 

/s/ Rebecca A. Bech

 

Rebecca A. Bech

Deputy Administrator

Plant Protection and Quarantine