Country: United States

Title:

Bactrocera dorsalis (Oriental Fruit Fly): APHIS Establishes a Quarantine in Fountain Valley, Orange County, California

Contact:
Richard Johnson, Fruit Fly National Policy Manager, at (301) 851-2109 or richard.n.johnson@usda.gov

Report:

On September 16, 2022, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) established an Oriental fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis or OFF) quarantine in the Fountain Valley area of Orange County, California. This action is in response to the confirmed detections of six adult male and two unmated adult female OFF from various sites in the Fountain Valley area by CDFA between August 15 and September 12; all were from traps in various types of fruit trees in residential areas.

APHIS is applying safeguarding measures and restrictions on the interstate movement or entry into foreign trade of regulated articles from the area to prevent the spread of OFF to non-infested areas of the United States. In cooperation with CDFA, APHIS is establishing a quarantine area, which encompasses 100 square miles of Orange County. There is no commercial agriculture in the quarantine area. APHIS is working with CDFA and the Orange County Agricultural Commissioner Division to respond to these detections following program survey, treatment protocols, and regulatory responses.

The establishment of this quarantine area is reflected on the following website, which contains a description of all current Federal fruit fly quarantine areas:

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant-health/ff-quarantine

Under IPPC standards, Bactrocera dorsalis  is a transient pest under eradication that is present only in one area in California. This species is not widely distributed and is under official control in the United States.

Posted Date: Sept. 28, 2022, 9:23 a.m.