3 More Mexflies Found in Wake of Eradication Effort

Just days after state and county agriculture authorities ended a five-month Mexican fruit fly eradication program in El Cajon last month, three more Mexflies were trapped in separate locations around San Diego County, officials have confirmed.

The finds, which range from Chula Vista to Hillcrest, are too far apart to indicate infestation, said Bill Routhier, an area manager for the state Department of Food and Agriculture who oversaw the El Cajon eradication program. But he said the finds should serve as a reminder, particularly to people who travel into Mexico, that quarantines are serious business.

“We would strongly encourage people to protect their quality of life,” he said. “Fifty-five million people cross the border each year, and it’s very, very hard to know what they’ve got in their pockets. If (people) want to avoid future treatments, they should not smuggle.”

State officials have increased their trapping around the three finds, as well as around one other find in San Diego in early October. When added to the three Mexflies found in El Cajon and one found near Balboa Park in late April and early May, these flies bring the county’s annual total to eight.

An infestation was declared last spring in El Cajon after one male Mexfly and two egg-bearing females were found within a quarter-mile area. To combat the spread of the pest, the state ordered San Diego county’s first-ever spraying of the pesticide malathion, a three-dose program that ended in June.

State officials believe they have traced the recently-trapped Mexflies to a large shipment of infested mangoes, part of which was intercepted in Tijuana. Routhier said 8 tons were confiscated after Mexican consumers complained of finding worms in their fruit. But, before the fruit was found, 4 tons had already been distributed to markets in Tijuana, Tecate and other Mexican cities.

Routhier said the Mexican government has since halted all mango shipments coming from Baja California Sur, where the infested batch originated.

“If you want to eat mangoes in Tijuana, eat them in Tijuana,” Routhier warned, “but don’t bring them back.”