(BCN)– California and federal agriculture officials have declared a Mediterranean fruit fly infestation in and around San Jose eradicated, lifting a 241-square-mile quarantine that had been in place for nearly a year.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the agricultural commissioners for Santa Clara and Alameda counties announced the quarantine, which began on Aug. 19, 2025, has ended after an extensive campaign to eliminate the invasive pest.
The effort centered on releasing sterile male Mediterranean fruit flies, or Medflies, at a rate of at least 250,000 flies per square mile each week. The sterile flies mate with wild females but produce no offspring, gradually shrinking the population. Agricultural officials also treated properties near detection sites with an organic Spinosad solution and removed fruit and vegetables from properties where breeding populations were found to eliminate eggs and larvae…