A 109-square mile section of Santa Clara County has been placed under quarantine following the detection of two female Mediterranean fruit flies in San Jose, officials said.

The Medfly targets more than 250 varieties of produce by laying eggs inside that hatch into maggots and make the produce unfit to be eaten, according to a press release from the California Department of Food and Agriculture. The quarantine will impact retailers, wholesalers and growers who work with any of the vulnerable produce varieties.

“If not stopped, Medflies can devastate fruits and vegetables grown in backyards and on local farms by reproducing and leaving larvae in produce, and the invasive flies can then spread to other regions,” the department said. “A quarantine is a way to minimize damage and stop the risk of spread by restricting the movement of fruits and vegetables.”

The area placed under quarantine extends from Trade Zone Boulevard south to Camden Avenue, and from San Tomas Expressway east to Evergreen Valley Community College, officials said. The area includes parts of San Jose, Los Gatos, Campbell and Santa Clara. A full map of the quarantined area can be viewed on the department’s website.

Officials also plan to release 250,000 sterile male fruit flies per square mile per week into a 84.76-square mile area around the Medfly infestation, they said. The males will mate with the wild female flies but not be able to produce offspring, and the population will decline as the flies reach the end of their lifespan.

The male flies were raised at a sterile insect-rearing facility in Los Alamitos, officials added.

Properties that are located within 200 meters of where the Medfly infestation was found will be treated with Spinosad, which is made from bacteria that occurs naturally in the soil, to reduce the population density by killing mated females, officials added. Other properties within 100 meters will have fruit and host-plant removal to get rid of larvae and eggs.

Officials ask that home gardeners refrain from taking produce they grow off of their properties. That produce can be eaten or processed on the property where it was grown, including cooking it, juicing it or putting it down the garbage disposal. Any produce that must be disposed of should be put in sealed bags and placed in the garbage.

“These actions protect against the artificial spread of the infestation to nearby regions where it can affect California’s food supply and backyard gardens,” officials added.

Residents who think their produce has been infested by fruit fly larvae can contact California’s pest hotline at 800-491-1899 or by email at [email protected].

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Officials added that the combination of these approaches is the “safest, most effective and most efficient response program available.”

The response is being undertaken by the California Department of Food and Agriculture in collaboration with the United States Department of Agriculture and the Santa Clara County Division of Agriculture, officials said. Alameda County was separately placed under a quarantine for Medflies last year.

Most invasive fruit flies enter the area by “hitchhiking” in produce brought back from areas of the world with infestations or in produce packaged in other states or countries, officials added.