The recent detection of a fruit fly outbreak in the Dominican Republic will not disrupt trade with the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), according to the Agriculture Department. Surveillance for the Mediterranean fruit fly (medfly) has been initiated in Providenciales, TCI's primary shipping hub.
Roneta Huntley Thomas, Chief Plant Protection Officer, confirmed that the surveillance campaign will soon extend to Grand Turk and North and Middle Caicos. "We have not detected any fly of the two genera in our surveillance program," she said.
Thomas addressed concerns raised following reports about the ongoing outbreak. She revealed that the detected fly was a male, which can't reproduce, and that the surveillance program in the DR had been strengthened.
Local news agencies reported multiple pest findings in Bávaro and Punta Cana, DR. An emergency protocol was activated by the Ministry of Agriculture in response to an outbreak in Los Corales, Punta Cana.
Thomas reassured that all mango imports from the DR, a popular TCI import, must come from a field under the Fruit Fly surveillance program. She affirmed that the trade between the two countries will remain unaffected.
Source: magneticmediatv.com