APHIS Establishes and Expands Fruit Fly Quarantine Areas in California

FOR INFORMATION AND ACTION
DA-2024-45
November 20, 2024

Subject: APHIS Establishes and Expands Fruit Fly Quarantine Areas in California

To: State, Territory, and Tribal Agricultural Regulatory Officials

On October 30, 2024, and again on November 8, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) expanded the Mediterranean fruit fly (Ceratitis capitata; Medfly) quarantine area in Alameda and Santa Clara Counties, designated the Fremont quarantine. On October 31, APHIS and CDFA established an Oriental fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis; OFF) quarantine in Orange County, California, designated the Garden Grove quarantine, and expanded the quarantine on November 4.

APHIS and CDFA established the Fremont quarantine on September 6 following the detection of a mated wild female Medfly from a trap in an orange tree in a residential area, and then expanded this quarantine on September 11, October 17, and October 23, following detections of additional flies. The Medfly quarantine expansions in the Fremont quarantine in this announcement are in response to detections between October 14-16 of three wild female Medflies from traps in fruit trees in residential areas of Fremont, and on October 21 of a wild male Medfly from a trap in a tree in a residential area of Newark. As the result of these detections, the quarantine area increased by 62 square miles to 183 square miles. There are 54 acres of commercial agriculture, including wine grape, olive, avocado, tomato, pepper, and eggplant, in the quarantine area.

APHIS and CDFA established the Garden Grove OFF quarantine on October 31, and expanded it in response to confirmed detections between October 23-29 of eight male OFF in the cities of Garden Grove and Santa Ana, from traps in fruit trees in residential areas. The quarantine area encompasses 88 square miles. There are 4.5 acres of commercial agriculture, including tomato, eggplant, bell pepper, fig, persimmon, squash, and cucumber, 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, Orange, 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 new quarantine areas, as well as all current Federal fruit fly quarantine areas. APHIS will publish a notice of these changes in the Federal Register.

For additional information on the fruit fly quarantine areas, please contact:

Richard Johnson
National Policy Manager
301-851-2109
richard.n.johnson@usda.gov

Avraham Eitam
Assistant National Policy Manager
614-205-4565
avraham.eitam@usda.gov

/s/

Dr. Mark L Davidson
Deputy Administrator
Plant Protection and Quarantine