Group Trying to Keep Medfly Out of County

It has wreaked havoc throughout Southern California, the tiny, pestiferous insect known as the Medfly, forcing night-time helicopters to spray Malathion over schoolyards, neighborhoods and farmers’ fields.

But despite coming as close as Granada Hills, no fertile Medflies have ever been located in Ventura County--and a local group wants to ensure it remains that way.

The Ventura County Fruitfly Action Cooperation Task Force (FACT) and a consortium of state and local agricultural groups are kicking off a statewide anti-Medfly educational campaign, beginning with Ventura County, which they say is extremely susceptible to the Medfly epidemic because of its proximity to the infested Los Angeles Basin.

“It seems likely that if L.A. keeps having this problem, we’re going to have it here,” said Elisabeth Brokaw, project manager for FACT, a volunteer group formed by the Ventura County Farm Bureau.

Armed with a 16-minute video titled “Spoiled Rotten: The Medfly Threat to California,” Brokaw and other FACT members began spreading the message Friday to city council members, county government officials and the public.

The video, produced by the Alliance for Food and Fiber, a statewide coalition composed mainly of agricultural groups, will also be distributed to every television station in California.

All avocados, strawberries, tomatoes, peppers and citrus fruits grown in Ventura County are susceptible to Medfly infestation, officials said. Those fruits and vegetable crops accounted for 51% of the county’s $848-million total harvest last year, Brokaw said.

To combat the Medfly, agricultural officials released sterile Medflies into Los Angeles County to disrupt the bugs’ reproductive cycle. Last March, they let loose about 430 million.

In recent years, about 700 sterile Medflies have been found in the hundreds of Medfly traps positioned throughout Ventura County by the Agricultural Department--a testament to the insects’ well-known “hitchhiking” ability, Brokaw said.

Between January and April of this year alone, 294 sterile Medflies have been found in the traps, mostly in Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley. Entomologists believe that for every Medfly trapped, there exists 500.

If a single fertile Medfly or larvae were found near a food production area, it would require widespread aerial spraying of Malathion pesticide, which remains controversial despite studies by the National Cancer Institute and the California Department of Food and Agriculture proclaiming its safety. All sides in the debate agree that it is a great nuisance.

Furthermore, in addition to killing Medflies, Malathion spraying kills many “beneficial” insects, which are commonly used by farmers in Ventura County as an alternative to pesticides. The result would be more chemicals in Ventura County fruits and vegetables.

Once the Medfly is firmly established, like it is in Hawaii, the bug is almost impossible to eradicate, experts said. For that reason, officials said it is paramount to halt the threat in its early stages.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture urged county residents to take these steps to reduce the chance of a local Medfly epidemic:

- Travelers should not bring fruits into the county from other states or countries, or fruits grown in quarantined areas such as those in Los Angeles. They could be carrying Medfly eggs or larvae.

- Anyone who discovers larvae inside of a home-grown fruit or vegetable should immediately call the county agricultural commissioner’s office.

- Residents should allow agricultural workers to access their property and check Medfly traps for signs of infestation.