Hot Line Is Abuzz With Medfly Calls

Tuesday was the busiest day yet for the Orange County Medfly Hot Line, as calls poured in from residents seeking information in advance of the county’s first-ever malathion spraying for the destructive Mediterranean fruit fly.

“We’ve had calls from as far south as Laguna Niguel,” said Theresa Knitter, an agricultural technician for the county’s Department of Agriculture, Weights and Measures who has been working since Nov. 20 as a hot-line operator in preparation for the spraying planned for Thursday night. Early questions indicated that “the people were more on edge. . . . Now we’re getting people who are just more concerned about how to protect their immediate self.”

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles County, a fertile fly was reported Tuesday to have been detected in Downey, expanding an already large swath of residential neighborhoods in Los Angeles County and Northern Orange County that are targeted for at least one dose of aerial pesticide spray.

Fertility Confirmed

The fly was found late Monday and flown to Sacramento where its fertility was confirmed. The Downey find and a fly found last week in Brea have further complicated eradication efforts, stretching resources to the limit.

In Orange County, hot-line operators have listened to worries, calmed fears and corrected faulty information from inside the agriculture department’s building in Anaheim, as county residents prepare for Thursday’s scheduled 9 p.m. spraying over parts of Brea, Fullerton and La Habra.

“Well, are the birds under cover?” Howard L. Garrett, usually a deputy agricultural commissioner and now a hot-line operator, asked a Tuesday afternoon caller who said she lived in the treatment area. “If there’s a roof (on the outdoor cage), they should be all right. It probably wouldn’t hurt to put something around the edge.”

From another of the five telephones on Tuesday, Knitter was assuring a woman that although she lived in the northern part of the county, she was not in the treatment area or the surrounding quarantine area, and so would not be affected by the spraying.

“No, you’re not in the spray zone,” Knitter told the caller. “You’ll hear the helicopters--you might have them come over your house--but they’re not actually spraying.”

Knitter said that last week there were about 70 to 80 callers a day, but this week the number of calls has increased, with a high on Tuesday of more than 100 calls.

She said that last week, callers seemed seemed more concerned about potential adverse effects that the spray could have on the environment and wildlife, rather than individual household concerns.

Pet Inquiries

Now, people are calling with particular questions about a pet, plant or health condition, and most of the calls Tuesday were about exactly when and where the spraying would occur, she said.

On Monday, another hot line was set up at the field nurse office of the county Health Care Agency, where Supervising Public Health Nurse Carol Mosely said she received about 10 calls on Tuesday and about five on Monday, mostly inquiries about pets.

Mosely said that a few people with respiratory illnesses called with concerns about the effect the spray would have on them.

Mosely operates the hot line from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and on Thursday, she plans to answer phones until 10 p.m.

The other hot line will be operating from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. today through Thursday, and until 2 a.m. Friday, when the spraying is expected to be finished.

In Los Angeles County, agricultural officials prepared Tuesday for the second application of malathion over a 23-square-mile area of the San Gabriel Valley encompassing San Marino, Rosemead, El Monte and parts of Monterey Park. The planned 9 p.m. liftoff could be delayed or canceled if strong Santa Ana winds kick up, officials said.

The recent Santa Ana winds also could be contributing to the spread of the Medfly problems, said Roy Cunningham, an entomologist and leading member of the state’s scientific advisory panel on the Medfly. He has conducted studies in Hawaii that show that the quarter-inch-long fly has been carried up to eight miles by island trade winds.

“We are hoping these winds settle down,” Cunningham said. “This fly is a weak flier. But in an open stretch it can be carried for miles.”

The Downey discovery represents the “last straw” in the state’s ability to fight the Medfly by releasing sterile flies to breed the population out of existence, Cunningham said. Even the billions of sterile flies being purchased from Mexico will not be enough to cover the Downey infestation, he said.

“This definitely means we have exceeded our capacity to . . . flood all areas with sterile flies,” Cunningham said. “There is a limit to what we can handle.”

Times staff writers Richard Simon and Stephanie Chavez contributed to this story.

THURSDAY’S MEDFLY SPRAY AREA Agriculture officials have advised residents in parts of Brea, Fullerton and La Habra to take precautions before aerial pesticide spraying Thursday night to eradicate a Mediterranean fruit fly infestation.

Recommended steps include:

Stay indoors if possible. Officials say the amount of pesticide used in the spray is small enough that contact with it will not cause any long-term health effects. It can be an irritant to eyes, but no other short-term effects are likely to result. The semisweet mixture of malathion and corn syrup is released in droplets too large to inhale. It has toxicity equivalent to laundry detergent, officials say.

Cover cars that are parked outside. The malathion mixture may cause blemishes or discoloration to the finish or paint of some cars.

Keep dogs, cats and other pets in garages or under cover.

Shallow back-yard fish ponds should be covered. But officials say pool owners should not worry because the pesticide will not significantly affect the water quality in a standard-size pool.

The next morning, all patio furniture, play equipment, tools and household items left outdoors during the spray should be hosed down.

Source: State and Orange County agriculture officials.