California has been declared Mediterranean-fruit-fly free, after the state’s Department of Food and Agriculture announced last week that infestations have been cleared from Los Angeles, Santa Clara and Solano counties.
The 103-square-mile Los Angeles County quarantine is no longer being enforced and will be formally lifted after paperwork is completed, according to the Los Angeles Times.
State officials used sterile male Med-flies to deplete the population and end the infestation, the paper said; a tactic used since 1996.
California has invested over US$500m over the last 40 years in the effort to eradicate the pest, the LA Times said. Med-flies can infest more than 260 types of fruits and vegetables, rendering them inedible.
Meanwhile, the Californian citrus industry is still on high alert after an Asian citrus psyllid infestation was discovered last month in Tijuana, Mexico, just 3km south of the US border.
The insect can carry the bacterial disease ‘citrus greening’, which prevents proper colouring in the fruit, making them bitter and stunted, reducing yields and possibly killing the trees in a matter of years.
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