Miami

Florida Eradicates Oriental Fruit Fly from Miami-Dade

Florida agriculture officials say they have eradicated a fruit fly from Miami-Dade county that posed a major threat to state crops.

Florida Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam said in a statement Friday that the Oriental fruit fly was first found in the county in 2015 and quickly quarantined.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's deputy administrator for its Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Osama El-Lissy says officials contained the fly's outbreak to a 99-square-mile area. They were able to eliminate it in fewer than 6 months.

The pest's eradication means that farms quarantined after its discovery can again start shipping products.

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and USDA will continue to monitor more than 56,000 traps to ensure the fly is gone.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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