Surveillance for Acute Pesticide-Related Illness During the Medfly Eradication Program--Florida, 1998

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The Mediterranean fruit fly (Medfly) (Ceratitis capitata, Wiedemann) is an exotic insect that can damage approximately 250 fruit and vegetable plant species and is a serious threat to domestic agriculture. During the spring and summer of 1998, pesticides were used by federal and state agriculture authorities to eradicate Medfly infestations that had been detected in portions of five Florida counties (Table 1). This report summarizes surveillance data, describes probable and possible cases of illness associated with the eradication effort, and provides recommendations for future Medfly-eradication programs.