Oriental Fruit Flies Force Agricultural Quarantine Over East Valley

State officials slapped an agricultural quarantine over most of the east San Fernando Valley on Friday after finding signs that an Oriental fruit fly infestation is spreading.

Signs will be posted and thousands of bait traps will be sprayed onto utility poles and trees throughout an 80-square-mile area to attract the insects.

A series of treatments are expected to be conducted over the next seven months to eradicate the flies that damage fruits, vegetables and ornamental plants.

The area affected is generally bounded by the Foothill Freeway on the north, Grandview Avenue in Glendale on the east, Mulholland Drive on the south and Van Nuys Boulevard on the west.

“We are asking homeowners that they not move backyard fruits or vegetables, not even to neighbors or across the street, and especially not to the office, because that causes new areas to become infested,” said Oscar Hidalgo, spokesman for the state Department of Food and Agriculture.

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The infestation was first discovered July 14 in Burbank and has since spread to North Hollywood and Sun Valley.

A series of treatments have been conducted, consisting of half-dollar-size spots sprayed onto posts that attract and kill the male flies.

The initial treatment area covered about nine square miles. However, after additional flies were trapped, the area was expanded Friday to create a large buffer zone to contain the infestation, Hidalgo said.

The eradication program in the Valley is the first in the county this year. But more flies trapped within the past few days in Westchester triggered the start of a second eradication program in that community on Friday, Hidalgo said.