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Fruit Fly Find Generates Anxiety: If More Are Discovered in the Same Fresno Area, a Quarantine Could Be Put in Place.

Posted on: Wednesday, 17 May 2006, 09:05 CDT

By Dennis Pollock and Robert Rodriguez, The Fresno Bee, Calif.

May 17--Agriculture officials said Tuesday they have stepped up trapping to determine whether a single fruit fly found in a Fresno neighborhood could signal the threat of quarantine to commercial growers of a wide range of fruit.

Fresno County Agricultural Commissioner Jerry Prieto Jr. said such a quarantine, covering a 50-square-mile area, would be ordered if eight more adult flies are found within a three-mile radius. If a quarantine were put in place by the federal or state government, trading partners could add additional restrictions on imports from the region.

Prieto said this is the first time this particular variety of insect -- the peach fruit fly -- has been found in the central San Joaquin Valley. It could threaten 50 different plants that can include tree fruit and citrus. It was discovered Monday during routine trapping by an employee of the county's Department of Agriculture near Cornelia and Clinton avenues.

"This is the kind of thing that scares us to death," said Barry Bedwell, president of the California Grape and Tree Fruit League in Fresno. "This is the type of pest that can trigger a devastating quarantine. We take these finds very seriously."

The region is a major producer of fruit. Oranges amounted to a $158 million crop in Fresno County alone last year. Tree fruit -- fresh peaches, plums and nectarines -- were valued at more than $487 million last year.

The insect was sent to a laboratory with the California Department of Food and Agriculture and was identified as bactrocera zonata, the peach fruit fly.

Prieto said the fly is from the same family as the Mediterranean fruit fly "and can cause problems for us."

A quarantine would severely restrict the movement of produce. Moving fruit out of the area could require costly fumigation treatments.

"And believe me, nobody wants to spend money on methyl bromide," said Bedwell, of the California Grape and Tree Fruit League. "It is not good for the condition of the fruit or its shelf life."

With a quarantine in place, agriculture officials would work to eradicate the pest by using chemical lures and not have to resort to spraying.

The peach fruit fly is among agriculture's most destructive pests. It lays its eggs inside the fruit, and when the larvae hatch, they feed on the inside of the fruit.

Prieto was notified of the insect's identity just before noon on Tuesday and alerted the county's Board of Supervisors and commodity groups that include California Citrus Mutual in Exeter.

Farmers and industry officials reacted with concern after hearing news of the discovery.

Farmer Jim Simonian of Fowler said that while he had never heard of the peach fruit fly, he knows how devastating harmful pests can be.

"When we had the Mediterranean fruit fly in the 1970s, it was horrible," Simonian said. "We had such a beautiful season ahead of us, then the market just crashed because of the fly. It was just terrible. Nobody wants this."

The Valley is no stranger to bad bugs, having battled the olive fruit fly, glassy winged sharpshooter and red imported fire ant.

Prieto said 50 insect traps per square mile will be set up in a radius around where the insect was found. There will be another five traps per square mile in an 80 square mile area outside that core region. Normally, trapping is at two per square mile.

"We assume someone brought it from a foreign country," Prieto said. "This is what can happen if someone does not dispose of fruit properly."

The insect originates in South and Southeast Asia, where it attacks fruit that includes guavas, mangoes, peaches, apricots and citrus. It has spread to other parts of the world, including several countries in the Near East and Egypt. Detection and eradication programs are in place in various countries.

"California has been very successful in eradicating fruit fly infestations," Prieto said, adding that quarantines have not been imposed after finds in San Bernardino and Santa Clara counties. "We have good treatment programs, and they have evolved."

The county has cited quick detection and eradication of pests or diseased animals to erase the threat of spread or quarantine.

For example, in 1998, a backyard flock of game birds was found to harbor exotic Newcastle disease, a deadly disease in poultry, which is a major industry in the Valley. Forty-eight infected birds were diagnosed with the disease. The birds and their cages were destroyed.

Efforts to keep the glassy-winged sharpshooter out of commercial grapevines, where it can spread deadly Pierce's Disease, have resulted in millions of dollars in expenditures in Fresno and Tulare counties as well as elsewhere in the state. The first pest entered the Valley in 2000 when it migrated to Porterville from Southern California.

The reporters can be reached at dpollock@fresnobee.com, brodriguez@fresnobee.com, or (559) 441-6330.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Fresno Bee, Calif.

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Source: The Fresno Bee

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