Provided by Dr. Marion Fuller
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS)

Report Dated 05/25/98

Bradenton

We've trapped a total of 485 flies since the original find on May 12th. Most of the flies have been inside the 7 square mile treatment area. Three flies have been picked up outside that area - a second fly in Palmetto - this one about a half mile north of the first detection; and a fly found about three miles east of the easternmost fly find. All of these finds have been treated with ground bait stations - in area 200 meters around each site. Also, the second "sweep" of ground bait treatment continues inside the core.

Fortunately, each of the finds outside the treatment area have each been single fly finds. Less positive is the relatively wide distribution from the primary finds in the core. The Science Advisory Panel will be contacted for their recommendations in light of these finds. EPA will also be contacted.

As noted previously, I expect the treatment area will be expanded.

The regulated area (quarantine area) has already been expanded to 102 square miles, taking in at least a half a dozen packing houses. Their operations are being screened in, and culls are being taken to the local landfill where they are being buried immediately. (We appreciate the cooperation from both the packing houses and the landfill - both are needed to eliminate potentially infested fruit, as well as potential host material!)

Traps continue to be deployed. There are now a total of 3235 in service: 2352 Jacksons, 166 McPhails, and 717 panel traps.

We also continue with efforts to educate the public regarding malathion, treatment procedures, and information about the Medfly. The importance of this as an ongoing process, is evidenced by a flyer distributed recently by "Kids Who Care". The flyer identifies malathion as a nerve gas, and lists symptoms of toxicity which are not all consistent with the body of science or medical literature for malathion.

Environmental Monitoring - No report

Health Monitoring - No report

Umatilla

The fly count remains stable (as of Saturday). The Saturday treatment went off without a hitch. Equipment calibration was rapid, with no mechanical difficulties experienced by any of the three helicopters. There were no weather delays. Application was completed by midday.

Environmental Monitoring - The following are results of water samples taken prior to the second aerial bait treatment.

Umatilla 0.1 - 0.3 pp - (between MDL and PQL)
Enola - ND
Geneva - ND
East Lake - 1.4 ppb
Crescent - ND
Palm - ND
Yale - ND
Bay - ND
S. Twin - ND
Gibson - ND

Minimum detection limit (MDL) is unchanged at 0.1 ppb. Ditto for the practical quantification limit (PQL) of 0.3 ppb.

Health Monitoring:
No report.

Sterile Medfly Release Program
As many of you know, we have been releasing about 20 million sterile Medflies per week in Miami Springs. For those of you not familiar with the process, pupae are flown in from Guatemala - one of two rearing facilities (with appropriate QA/QC) available on this side of the world. The other is in Hawaii, and its production is dedicated to the California preventative release program. The pupae are flown into Miami, and brought to Tampa to be reared in a facility put together last summer at McDill Airforce Base. It can handle up to 300 million flies at this time.

The Miami release program has experienced a few difficulties:

1. The release area is adjacent to the Miami International Airport. Heavy air traffic has occasionally prompted FAA to order the release plane out of the area. There is a very small window of opportunity, before air traffic gets too heavy - and while it is not a large area, and the operation can be completed fairly quickly (about 30-45 minutes) - that much time is not always available.
2. When allowed to fly, occasionally the pilot has had to release flies at a higher than optimal altitude. This has the potential for less even distribution as well as less density of flies in the target area. (The greater the altitude, the wider the dispersal area).
3. The poor visibility caused by the fires in Mexico have prevented several releases over the past week. (Not all 20 million flies are released at once - this usually accomplished with 3-4 releases/week, for a total of 20 million flies/week).
4. A volcano eruption near Guatemala City has been the most recent obstacle. The airport was closed for a couple of days, and when it reopened, the shipment of pupae was "bumped" for other cargo...

Fortunately, the Manatee County release program will not be quite as complicated as Miami Springs. As for the problems associated with the volcano, we are expecting things to settle back to a "normal" routine in the next day or so. We anticipate delivery of 100 million pupae - hopefully by the end of the week.

My understanding is that upon maturation, the first 20 million of these (and subsequent shipments) will be directed to the Miami Springs program - the remainder will be available for release in Manatee County. It is also my understanding that the numbers will increase over a period of several more weeks, to a total of about 300 million pupae received weekly.

FDACS - Division of Plant Industy: Mediterranean fruit fly information
USDA APHIS: Mediterranean fruit fly information
UF/IFAS Fact Sheet ENY-809: The Mediterranean Fruit Fly
UF/IFAS Fact Sheet ENY-626: Mediterranean Fruit Fly: What Floridians Need To Know