06/15/98 - Bradenton and Umatilla Mediterranean Fruit Fly Update - DACS

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

Report Dated 06/14/98

Bradenton

Four more flies were found at the end of last week - two on Thursday, two on Friday of last week. Saturday's count is clean. I'll report on Sunday's findings in the next update. The total fly count is now 552 since the first find on May 12, 1998. Ground crews continue to treat in the buffered areas, and commercial crews continue fruit stripping the core.

There are 3112 traps deployed in the area: 2742 Jackson, 86 McPhail, and 284 yellow panel traps.

There will be a press briefing at 4:00 Monday afternoon at the project office to give an update and discuss plans for the date of the second aerial bait treatment. Again, treatment intervals have been at 7 days in previous Florida programs; however, with the dry weather we've experienced, and the project's desire to minimize human exposure the interval may be extended. Number and distribution of the fly finds will also be a consideration, particularly in light of the number of property owners refusing access for ground bait treatment.)

Environmental Monitoring:
The following are results from the water samples taken June 10, before the first aerial bait treatment.

Terra Ciera BayBDL (Below the Detection Limit of 0.1 ppb)
Champlain BayouBDL
Clambor BayouBDL
Emerson BayouBDL
Snead Island CutoffBDL
McLewis Bayou0.6 ppb
Warners BayouBDL
Palma Sola BayBDL
Palma Sola Creek-SBDL
Palma Sola creek-WBDL
Cedar Hammach CanalBDL

Malaoxon was not detected in any sample.

The detection limit (MDL) for both malathion and malaoxon is 0.1 ppb; the practical limit of quantitation (PQL) is 0.3 ppb.

Health Monitoring:
As of 6/12 Manatee CHD reports a total of 662 calls to their hotline since June 1, 1998. Of these, 32 have reported health symptoms. 16 of these calls were received Friday, June 12th. In addition to the 32 calls to Manatee CHD, the Tampa Poison Information Center has received 6 calls with health complaints, for a total of 38 calls. Interestingly, the majority of the complaints received by the Manatee CHD (23 of 32) relate to the aerial bait treatment, while 5 of the 6 calls to Tampa PIC relate to ground treatment. Most cases report mild symptoms - all cases are being followed up by the DOH. In addition, the DOH Health Effects Advisory Committee is also monitoring the situation and providing advise to DOH as needed.

Umatilla

No more flies have been detected, as of June 12th. The final aerial bait treatment was scheduled for Saturday; however, I have not been in contact with the Umatilla office. I'll provide a report in tomorrow's update.

There are 4838 traps deployed: 3442 Jackson, 1141 yellow panels, 205 McPhails, and 50 IPTs.

Environmental Monitoring: no report

Health Monitoring: no report

Thanks to everyone for your assistance this past week - to DOH for their good work on the phone lines at Manatee CHD, to DOH/Tallahassee for the follow-ups, to DEP/Tampa for the environmental assistance, to the Health Advisory Comittee for your consideration/advice re: health monitoring.

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

The UF/IFAS Pest Alert WWW site is at: http://pestalert.ifas.ufl.edu/