APHIS Expands Oriental Fruit Fly Quarantine in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, California

FOR INFORMATION AND ACTION
DA-2023-27
December 20, 2023 

Subject: APHIS Expands Oriental Fruit Fly Quarantine in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, California

To: State, Territory, and Tribal Agricultural Regulatory Officials

On November 28, 2023, and again on December 5, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) expanded the Oriental fruit fly (Bactrocera dorsalis; OFF) quarantine in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, California. This action is in response to the confirmed detections of adult flies from various trapping sites in the cities of Redlands, Riverside, and San Bernardino. All detections were from traps in residential areas. As a result of these detections, the Redlands area quarantine increased by 198 square miles to 553 square miles. There are approximately 6,500 acres of commercial agricultural production in the quarantine area.

APHIS and CDFA established the original OFF quarantine on September 27, as described in DA-2023-17, and expanded the quarantine on October 3, October 12, November 3, November 9, and November 17, as described in DA-2023-20 and DA-2023-25. APHIS is applying safeguarding measures and restrictions on the interstate movement of regulated articles to prevent the spread of OFF to non-infested areas of the United States, as well as to prevent the entry of these fruit flies into foreign trade. APHIS is working with CDFA and the Agricultural Commissioners of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties to respond to these detections following program guidelines for survey, treatment, and regulatory actions.

The expansion of this quarantine area is reflected on the APHIS fruit fly website, which contains a description of all current federal fruit fly quarantine areas. APHIS will publish a notice of these changes in the Federal Register.

For additional information on the quarantine areas, please contact Fruit Fly National Policy Manager Richard Johnson at 301-851-2109 or richard.n.johnson@usda.gov 

/s/

Dr. Mark L Davidson
Deputy Administrator
Plant Protection and Quarantine