U.S. Customs and Border Protection agriculture specialists intercepted fresh cherries infested with the European cherry fruit fly on June 19. The pest was discovered during a secondary inspection of a five-pound bag of cherries that were coming into the Detroit Metropolitan Airport. The fruit was heavily infested with live fruit fly maggots and was being transported by someone flying into Detroit from Romania. The traveler’s destination was Fish Creek, Wisconsin, which is one of the major tart cherry-producing regions in the U.S. The Detroit Port Director said this was an “excellent interception” by their agriculture specialists. This is a pest that can pose a “major threat” to cherry orchards across the country. European cherry fruit flies have already been discovered in several New York counties, which are now under quarantine to prevent the flies from spreading into other states. The fruit fly is currently the pest that's infecting most European cherries.
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