Experts weigh threat of Medfly infestation in Alameda county
On Friday, a large section of Alameda County was put under agricultural quarantine because of a pest that officials have been battling on and off for more than 40 years.
The Cameron Hills neighborhood above Fremont is the exact center of a 70-square-mile quarantine zone imposed by the California Department of Food and Agriculture, because of the discovery of a Mediterranean Fruit Fly. Known simply as the medfly, it can bore into the skin of fruit to lay its eggs, infesting it with maggots and rendering it "unsuitable for human consumption."
Retired UC Davis entomology professor, Dr. James Carey, is considered th authority on the bug which is sometimes nicknamed "old blue eyes" for its iridescent coloring.
"Medfly is sort of the AIDS or the Ebola of the pest world," said Dr. Carey. "And the reason it's important is because other countries and, for that matter, other states quarantine produce just for its presence."
That makes it a huge threat to regional agriculture if it should spread. Homeowners are being advised to keep fruit on their own property and, if disposed of, to be double-bagged and put in the trash rather than the green waste bin. But those precautions are nothing compared to the hysteria in the early 1980s, when medflies were discovered in Santa Clara County. Back then, homeowners were ordered to remove all fruit from their trees or face fines or arrest. The CHP set up surprise roadside checkpoints to search cars for produce. And the federal government was so afraid of the pest that it ordered mass aerial spraying of the pesticide Malathion over San Jose, which scared residents and angered a young Governor Jerry Brown.
"We feel like we are just trapped here and we're going to be sprayed, we're going to be living in a sea of Malathion!" said one woman in an old TV news report.
"I could have a two-pound baby instead of a nice, healthy seven-pound baby," said another.
"I've got to weigh the health effects, the impact on people!" said a frustrated Gov. Brown at a press conference.
Dr. Carey said the state took a different approach. "They were trying, instead of spraying they were trying to strip fruit," he said. "So, they had trucks and crews going into backyards. Tons and tons of fruit they were bagging."
But that wasn't enough for the feds.
"We are prepared and, indeed, intend to quarantine the entire state of California," then Secretary of Agriculture John Block announced to the public.
The state gave in, and the spraying continued.
"Sixty-seven times. It's unbelievable," said Dr. Carey. "It was like, every few days practically they were sending up helicopters. And that upset many...well, everybody, basically."
Eventually, the spraying worked and the medfly seemed to be disappear, but public outcry was so loud that aerial spraying was eliminated. These days, the strategy is to release millions of sterile male medflies into infested areas. That's what they'll do in the quarantine zone in Alameda County. Also, an organic insecticide will be sprayed and fruit removed, but only in an area 100 meters from the discovery site of any mated female medfly or larvae. But professor Carey thinks that will only suppress the population, not eliminate it. He believes they're here to stay.
"Slowly, slowly, they're adapting to California environment," he said. "And eventually they'll just be taking over the state. I just predict that."
That sounds pretty ominous, but it's probably best not to panic. When it comes to the medfly, there's been enough of that already.