On May 19, 2025, the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), in cooperation with the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (NYS AGM), expanded the European cherry fruit fly (Rhagoletis cerasi; ECFF) quarantine to include Onondaga, Oswego, and Seneca Counties in New York. This expansion adds 1,018 square miles to the quarantine zone and encompasses 23 acres of commercial cherry production. The decision follows confirmed detections of four adult ECFF in Oswego County between June 17 and June 26, 2024.
With the addition of these counties, the ECFF quarantine area now includes all of Cayuga, Erie, Genesee, Monroe, Niagara, Onondaga, Ontario, Orleans, Oswego, Seneca, and Wayne Counties. The quarantine area now spans 7,353 square miles and contains 1,539 acres of commercial cherry production. Indian Reservations, including Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Onondaga, Tonawanda, and Tuscarora, are not included in the quarantine. APHIS is implementing safeguarding measures and restrictions on the interstate movement of regulated articles to prevent the spread of ECFF to non-infested areas of the United States and to maintain the integrity of domestic and foreign trade in cherries. These measures are in alignment with the intrastate quarantine established by NYS AGM on April 2, 2025.
In a separate but related effort to contain plant pests and diseases, APHIS, in cooperation with the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), has also established a new quarantined area for sweet orange scab (SOS), caused by the fungus Elsinöe australis, in California. Effective immediately, a 91 square mile quarantine is in place in the Burbank area of Los Angeles County, following the detection of SOS in a plant tissue sample collected from a residential property. This quarantine currently does not impact commercial citrus operations.
APHIS is also applying restrictions on the interstate movement of regulated articles from the quarantined area in California. These safeguards are consistent with the intrastate quarantine implemented by CDFA on May 29, 2025. The measure aims to prevent the spread of SOS to non-infested areas of the United States.
In both cases, APHIS is coordinating with state agencies to implement necessary regulatory actions and surveys to address these detections, ensuring that commercial production and market access remain protected while minimizing the spread of plant pests and diseases.
For more information:
Catherine Marzolf
USDA
Tel: +1 386 666 9932
Email: [email protected]
www.aphis.usda.gov
Abby R. Stilwell
USDA
Tel: +1 919 323 6296
Email: [email protected]
www.aphis.usda.gov
