Outbreak of Oriental Fruit Fly Eradicated

An outbreak in the Los Angeles area of the crop-destroying Oriental fruit fly has been eradicated, the U.S. Agriculture Department said Tuesday.

State and federal officials have battled the infestation since Aug. 15, 1989, when the pest was detected near West Covina. An agricultural quarantine eventually covered four other parts of the county. Although the continental United States is free of the Oriental fruit fly, a long-established infestation persists in Hawaii.