Higuey, Dominican Republic.- US Embassy agricultural attaché Morgan Perkins and a team of experts from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) on Wednesday toured the country’s east region to test and analyze the progress to contain the Med-fly in the area.
APHIS experts and technicians from Guatemala and Mexico have been in the country since March 19 to work alongside Dominican technicians in the push to eradicate the pest.
Dominican Republic Agriculture Ministry experts are also currently working closely with both teams in several areas to identify, trap, quarantine and collect data and prepare a public education campaign.
The effort also includes the distribution of sterile male flies in the area, to be released from trucks and planes, to break their life cycle.