Officials Plan a Quarantine Zone for Oriental Fruit Flies

After discovering Oriental fruit flies in Ontario, San Bernardino County agriculture officials are discussing possible boundaries for a quarantine area of 60 square miles, they said Wednesday.

Two male Oriental fruit flies were discovered July 27 in a trap, county officials said. By Monday, traps had been set within a nine-square-mile zone, said Allen Lampman, supervisor and agricultural standards officer for the county Agriculture Department. Nine flies have been trapped so far.

A quarantine would affect both backyard and commercial fruit and vegetable growers, said John Gardner, the county’s chief deputy commissioner of agriculture, weights and measures.

Backyard growers would be discouraged from giving home-grown food to friends and family. Commercial growers would be banned from selling produce for 30 days, during which they would have to treat their crops. After the 30 days, commercial growers would be allowed to sell again, but would have to continue treatments throughout the harvest.

“Growers will be contacted in the next couple of days,” Gardner said.

The number of commercial growers affected depends on where the boundaries are drawn, said Larry Cooper, public affairs officer for the state Department of Food and Agriculture.

Gardner said a quarantine could extend to 68 square miles and possibly reach Riverside and Los Angeles counties. It could be in place as early as today or by next week.

Joe Hart, president of the Temecula Valley Wine Growers Assn., said being caught in the quarantine zone would be one more unpleasant factor for grape growers to deal with. Temecula is about 52 miles from Ontario.

“We already have a problem shipping our grapes because of the glassy-winged sharpshooter, so we’re not shipping many grapes out of the area anyway,” Hart said. “We don’t need a new problem.”

The Oriental fruit fly is among the most harmful of all fruit flies because the females lay eggs inside the fruit and the larvae destroy it by eating the pulp.

The fly emerged from Southeast Asia to infest many of the Pacific Islands, particularly Hawaii. The flies attack hundreds of fruits and vegetables, including grapes, cucumbers, lemons, plums, tomatoes, avocados and peppers.

So far in San Bernardino County, flies have been found in plants at homes, not among commercial growers, Gardner said.