Sanitary emergency declared in four states over carambola fly

Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock has declared a phytosanitary emergency in the Northern states of Amapá, Amazonas, Pará, and Roraima due to the presence of the carambola fruit fly, or Bactrocera carambolae. The measure is valid for one year and aims to facilitate the monitoring and containment of the threat, preventing its spreading to neighboring states.

Native to Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, the species was first found in Brazil in Amapá back in 1996. It represents a major threat to Brazilian farming as it poses risks to human health and the production of healthy food, not to mention the economic damage this pest can cause, especially to the fruit-growing sector.

When it feeds on a fruit, this fly deposits larvae that become hosts and speed up the ripening and dropping of the already spoiled fruit. In addition to the carambola—its preferred fruit—the insect can attack other fruits, such as guava, mango, jambo, acerola, and tangerine, making them unfit for human consumption and increasing costs due to combat measures.

In 2017, the Ministry of Agriculture established procedures for the prevention and eradication of this quarantine pest, which is restricted to certain regions of the country. Before 2023, the carambola fruit fly was restricted to the states of Amapá, Roraima, and Pará. In March, however, Roraima was brought under indefinite quarantine.

The move enabled a set of efforts to be made in commercial orchards, areas where host fruit occurs, places of sale, in addition to cargo transportation and passenger luggage. Measures range from advising people not to pick and transport fruit from the ground and areas where the species occurs to information on the use of traps and sprays.