Residents living in a 94-square-mile portion of Santa Clara County have been placed under a "fruit quarantine" following the detection of several oriental fruit flies, state officials have announced.
Anyone living in the targeted area is being urged not to remove homegrown fruits and vegetables from their property in an effort to contain the fruit flies – of which six were detected. Officials clarified, however, that those same homegrown fruits and vegetables can be "consumed or processed."
But if residents opt to get rid of them, they're asked to double-bag, seal and place in a regular trash bin, not green waste or compost.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture listed the impacted area as south San Jose near the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds.
It's "generally bordered on the north by the Alum Rock neighborhood, on the south by Santa Teresa County Park, on the west by S. Bascom Ave. and on the east by Joseph D. Grant County Park."
"The oriental fruit fly is known to target over 230 different fruit, vegetable, and plant commodities," a CDFA news release explained. "Damage occurs when the female fruit fly lays her eggs inside the fruit. The eggs hatch into maggots and tunnel through the flesh of the fruit, making it unfit for consumption."
CDFA is answering questions about the quarantine at 1-800-491-1899.
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