Twice in December, agriculture officials expanded the Mediterranean fruit fly (Medfly) quarantine area in California’s Alameda and Santa Clara counties, designated the Fremont quarantine. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) made the expansions Dec. 5 and Dec. 12.
The quarantine was expanded in response to confirmed detections of a wild mated female Medfly from a trap in a fruit tree in a residential area on Nov. 22 and again on Nov. 27.
APHIS and CDFA originally established the Fremont Medfly quarantine on Sept. 6. It occurred after the detection of a mated wild female Medfly in Alameda County from a trap in an orange tree in a residential area. The agencies expanded the quarantine on Sept. 11, Oct. 17, Oct. 23, Oct. 30 and Nov. 8 following the detections of additional flies.
As the result of the Nov. 22 detection, the quarantine area increased by 74 square miles to 212 square miles. The Nov. 27 detection resulted in the quarantine area increasing by one square mile to 213 square miles. These new expansions do not add commercial acreage. There are 49 acres of 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 fruit flies 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 CDFA and the agricultural commissioners of Alameda and Santa Clara counties to respond to these detections following program guidelines for survey, treatment, and regulatory actions.
The APHIS exotic fruit flies website contains descriptions and maps of the expanded quarantine area, as well as all current federal fruit fly quarantine areas. APHIS will publish a notice of these changes in the Federal Register.
Source: APHIS
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