Pompano Beach Medfly Program Update
~ Sterile Flies To The Rescue ~
For Information, Contact:
Sterling Ivey
Communications Office
(850) 617-7737
Sterling.Ivey@freshfromflorida.com
Denise Feiber, FDACS/DPI
(352) 372-3505 ext. 102
cell: (352) 235-0036
Denise.Feiber@freshfromflorida.com
February 25, 2011
TALLAHASSEE – The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported today that no additional Mediterranean fruit flies (Medfly) have been found since the discovery of two Medflies on February 10 in Pompano Beach.
Since the initial discovery, the Department has placed 1,473 traps, checking them daily, in a 51-square-mile area around the positive find. Because no additional flies have been found, the Department will transition from daily to weekly monitoring of Medfly traps.
A regulatory boundary has been established around the area of the positive find to prevent the spread of the Medfly. Homeowners within the regulatory boundary should follow these guidelines until eradication is completed:
- Do not move any fruits and vegetables off the property.
- Pick up any fallen fruits and vegetables from the yard.
- Double-bag fruits and vegetables in plastic. Securely tie the bags and leave them out for household garbage pickup, not as yard waste.
- Allow state or federal representatives access to your property for survey, trapping or treatment activities.
The next phase of the Medfly eradication program involves utilizing the Sterile Insect Technique, a biologically based reproduction control method that releases large quantities of sterile male Medflies in numbers great enough to outnumber the potential for mating by wild males. Wild female insects that mate with sterile males do not produce offspring. In the Pompano Beach area, sterile Medflies will be released over a 60-mile area beginning February 27. Weather permitting; flies will be released three times a week throughout the duration of the eradication program.
The Sterile Insect Technique is a very effective method of eradication because it targets the ability of the wild Medfly species to reproduce without harming the environment or safety of the general public. Since 1999, the Department and USDA have been operating a Sterile Medfly Preventive Response Program involving the release of sterile Medflies in high risk areas of the state.
Wild Medflies can cause serious damage to fruit by making it rotten and inedible, but they are not harmful to humans.
For more information about the Medfly response, visit www.freshfromflorida.com/pi/medfly or contact the Department of Agriculture's Division of Plant Industry helpline at 888-397-1517.
For more information about the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, visit www.FreshFromFlorida.com.
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