Part of Orange County has been placed under quarantine due to an invasive fruit fly species, according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, which told residents in affected areas not to move home-grown fruits and vegetables from their properties.
State officials announced Wednesday that eight oriental fruit flies have been detected in and around the cities of Santa Ana and Garden Grove. To prevent the plague from spreading further, officials have established a 90-mile quarantine zone – bounded on the north by Anaheim, on the south by John Wayne Airport in the Santa Ana area, on the east by State Route 55 and in the west near Huntington beach.
The pest threatens many crops in California, including citrus fruits, tomatoes, avocados, cherries, peaches, apricots, plums and figs. Failure to eradicate the species in the state would cost an estimated $44 to $176 million in crop losses, according to agriculture officials, with the fly causing rot and spoilage of produce as larvae tunnel through the flesh of fruits and vegetables.
This happens when the female fruit fly lays eggs in the fruit, and the eggs then hatch into maggots that pass through the flesh of the fruit.
“Decay organisms enter and leave the inside of the fruit as a rotten mass,” the State Department says.
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More than 230 varieties of fruits and vegetables have been attacked. Getting rid of the pest — and the widespread, costly damage it can cause — will require the use of additional pesticides and quarantine requirements, state officials said.
“Oriental fruit flies have been introduced into California on a number of occasions through the movement of contaminated fruits and vegetables into the state,” the Department of Food and Agriculture said. “Although pests have occasionally been found in California, all have been successfully eradicated.”
In Orange County, government officials have told residents in the quarantine zone not to remove home-grown fruits and vegetables from their properties.
“However, they may be consumed or processed (i.e. pressed, frozen, cooked or ground in the garbage disposal) at the site where they were picked or discarded by double bagging and placing them with general waste, not green waste. ” state agriculture officials said.
Year-round, federal, state and provincial agriculture officials work to detect, eliminate and where possible prevent the threat of the invasive species, which is widespread across much of mainland South Asia and neighboring islands including Taiwan, Sri Lanka and Taiwan.
Anyone with questions can reach the Department of State’s Pest Hotline at 800-491-1899 or visit cdfa.ca.gov/plant/fruitfly.
