APHIS Removes the Oriental Fruit Fly (Bactrocera dorsalis) Quarantine in Fountain Valley, Orange County, California

FOR INFORMATION AND ACTION
DA-2023-15
September 14, 2023 

Subject:  APHIS Removes the Oriental Fruit Fly ( Bactrocera dorsalis) Quarantine in Fountain Valley, Orange County, California 

To: State, Territory, and Tribal Agricultural Regulatory Officials

On August 19, 2023, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) removed the Oriental fruit fly (OFF) quarantine in Fountain Valley, Orange County, California, after three generations elapsed with no additional detections in this area. This action releases the 100 square miles of the Fountain Valley quarantine, which contained no commercial agriculture.

On September 16, 2022, APHIS and CDFA established an OFF quarantine in Fountain Valley, Orange County, following the confirmed detection by CDFA of six adult male and two unmated adult female OFF from various sites in the Fountain Valley area. There were subsequent detections of OFF larvae and adults between September 21, 2022, and January 4, 2023. The quarantine release date was based on a degree-day model from the date of the last detection. APHIS restricted the interstate movement of regulated articles from this area to prevent the spread of OFF to non-infested areas of the United States. APHIS has worked cooperatively with CDFA to eradicate this transient OFF population through various control actions per program protocols.

A description of all current federal fruit fly quarantine areas is found on the APHIS website.

For additional information on the OFF quarantine area, please contact the Fruit Fly National Policy Manager, Richard Johnson, at 301-789-8824 or richard.n.johnson@usda.gov

/s/

Dr. Mark L Davidson
Deputy Administrator
Plant Protection and Quarantine