San Diego Mexfly Eradication Program Ends

The effort to eradicate the Mexican fruit fly from San Diego County is scheduled to come to a formal end today as agriculture authorities discuss the results of the five-month program of aerial sprayings, sterile flies and quarantines.

The eradication project has been deemed a success by the officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, California Department of Food and Agriculture, and the county Department of Agriculture.

The quarantine of citrus in effect during the program ends today. Agriculture inspectors recorded a few minor violations of the quarantine but termed the overall project a success.

Traps will continue to be placed in citrus trees to monitor the presence of pests, officials said.

Infestations were declared last spring in El Cajon and Compton with the trapping of several male and egg-bearing female Mexflies.

Three aerial sprayings of malathion prompted public outcry and legal protests, but the sprayings continued until agriculture officials began the second phase of the eradication program, the release of about 360 million sterilized Mexflies designed to breed the citrus pest out of existence in the Southland.

No wild Mexflies have been trapped in El Cajon or Compton since July, officials said.

The threat of reinfestation is high because Mexflies can elude the “sterile-fly zone” along the U.S.-Mexican border and enter the Southland as eggs and larvae in citrus brought illegally into the country.

The total cost of the eradication program was not available, but the figure is expected to exceed several million dollars.