Federal and state agriculture officials in March established several Mexican fruit fly (Anastrepha ludens; Mexfly) quarantines in Texas. The actions taken by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) occurred:
- March 11 in Zapata, Zapata County, in response to the confirmed detection on March 7 of a wild mated female Mexfly from a trap in a grapefruit tree in a residential area. The quarantine encompasses approximately 39 square miles. There is no commercial agriculture in the quarantine area.
- March 21 in Brownsville, Cameron County, in response to the confirmed detection on March 5 of a wild mated female Mexfly from a trap in a grapefruit tree in a residential area. The quarantine encompasses approximately 66 square miles. There are 49 acres of commercial citrus in the quarantine area.
- March 21 in Sebastian, Willacy County, in response to the confirmed detection on March 13 of a wild mated female Mexfly from a trap in a sour orange tree in a residential area. The quarantine encompasses approximately 71 square miles of Cameron, Hidalgo and Willacy counties. There are 44 acres of commercial citrus in the quarantine area.
- March 22 in Sullivan City, Hidalgo County, in response to the confirmed detection on March 12 of three wild mated female Mexflies from traps in orange trees in residential areas. The quarantine encompasses approximately 68 square miles of Hidalgo and Starr counties. There is no commercial agriculture in the quarantine area.
APHIS is applying safeguarding measures and restrictions on the interstate movement of regulated articles to prevent the spread of Mexfly to non-infested areas of the United States, as well as to prevent the entry of these fruit flies into foreign trade. APHIS is working with TDA to eradicate transient Mexfly populations following program guidelines for survey, treatment and regulatory actions.
The establishment of these quarantine areas is reflected on the APHIS fruit fly website, which contains a description of all current federal fruit fly quarantine areas.
Additional information about the Mexfly quarantine areas is available from USDA APHIS Fruit Fly National Policy Manager Richard Johnson at richard.n.johnson@usda.gov or 301-851-2109.
Source: USDA APHIS
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