North County Times: Medflies found in Escondido

More Medflies found in Escondido

County agriculture officials said Tuesday they will extend the duration and boundaries of a 77-square-mile quarantine in northern Escondido after finding more Mediterranean fruit flies.

Two adult Medflies and several larvae were discovered in traps in Escondido this month, forcing officials to extend the quarantine put in place in September, county Agriculture Commissioner Bob Atkins said Tuesday.

County officials will unveil details of the extended quarantine later this week.

Atkins said county officials had originally planned to lift the quarantine by May 2010, but that it will now remain in place until about August.

It was unclear Tuesday how many farmers overall are affected by the quarantine.

A Medfly quarantine in nearby Fallbrook will not be affected. That quarantine is expected to end in late July.

Stopping the spread of fruit flies is important. The flies attack more than 250 kinds of fruits and vegetables, making them a threat to the county's $1.5 billion agriculture industry if left uncontrolled, officials said. In a worst-case scenario, they said, a Medfly infestation could cost as much as $280 million in lost crops countywide.

State Department of Food and Agriculture officials have said that a permanent infestation could result in as much as $1.8 billion in annual agriculture losses statewide.

The quarantine restricts the movement of fruits and vegetables from areas potentially affected by the flies, which can travel roughly 4.5 miles in their lifetime. While the quarantine is in effect, farmers are not allowed to move fruits and vegetables from their properties until they've been treated and certified by county officials as good to sell.

Officials said people should not move fruits and vegetables from backyard gardens inside the quarantined areas to areas outside the boundary. Moving even a small quantity of fruits and vegetables outside the boundary could spread the flies, they said.

The flies don't threaten humans, but a prolonged infestation can make it hard for farmers to grow healthy fruit again.

An adult male Medfly was found Dec. 3 in the 1600 block of Gamble Lane, Atkins said. A second adult male was found in the 1800 block of Continental Lane four days later. Several larvae ---- newly hatched, wingless, often wormlike forms of insects ---- were found Saturday in the 1700 block of Mountain Hills Place.

Atkins said the extended quarantine boundary will probably include about 50 square miles in the hills above Del Dios and Lake Hodges, east of Harmony Grove.

"It’s going to be a bump-out expansion on the existing quarantine," Atkins said.

The quarantine will extend at least 4.5 miles to the north, south, east and west of the sites where the flies and larvae were found, Atkins said. It will be lifted after there has been no sign of a Medfly for the length of three life cycles.


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