Fruit Fly Invasion Situation Grows on in Southern California
On Nov. 28, 2023, and again on December 5, USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) expanded the Oriental fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis; OFF) quarantine in San Bernardino and Riverside counties in California. This action is in response to the confirmed detections of adult flies from various trapping sites in the cities of Redlands, Riverside, and San Bernardino. All detections were from traps in residential areas.
As a result of these detections, the Redlands area quarantine increased by 198 square miles to 553 square miles. There are approximately 6,500 acres of commercial agricultural production in the quarantine area.
APHIS and CDFA established the original Oriental fruit fly quarantine on Sept. 27, as described in DA-2023-17, and expanded the quarantine on Oct. 3, Oct. 12, Nov. 3, Nov. 9, and Nov. 17, as described in DA-2023-20 and DA-2023-25. APHIS is applying safeguarding measures and restrictions on the interstate movement of regulated articles to prevent the spread of OFF to non-infested areas of the U.S., as well as to prevent the entry of these fruit flies into foreign trade. APHIS is working with CDFA and the Agricultural Commissioners of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties to respond to these detections following program guidelines for survey, treatment, and regulatory actions.
The expansion of this quarantine area is reflected on the APHIS fruit fly website, which contains a description of all current federal fruit fly quarantine areas.
APHIS will publish a notice of these changes in the Federal Register.
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