17/08/2018 Update: Citrus Canker response, Northern Territory and Western Australia

Dear Grower

Re: Citrus Canker update

The nationally coordinated response to locate and remove all traces of citrus canker remains on-track. On-the-ground response teams remain in place in the Northern Territory and Western Australia and are progressing with removal and disposal activities.

There remains eleven infected premises in the Northern Territory and three in northern Western Australia. This number may increase as ongoing tracing identifies the location of risk plants. Finding these infected plants provides confidence that the tracing system is working.

Tracing information continues to be shared with all other jurisdictions, allowing for inspections and thorough diagnostic testing to be done quickly and effectively. Available evidence indicates that citrus canker is still restricted to potted plants in the home and garden sector, and all infected premises are linked to a single source premise in Darwin.

Citrus canker has not been detected in any citrus orchards or in any other Australian states.  This has been determined through recent surveillance in citrus production areas.

Surveillance has been conducted on more than 3,500 premises in the Northern Territory, and 460 in Western Australia. This surveillance has shown infected plants remain limited to those supplied from a single premise in Darwin. There has been no spread from these infected plants to other host plants.

The other states have also conducted surveillance and testing as a result of the tracing information they received from the NT. In total around 7,000 traces have been investigated across Australia, and no canker has been found. The premises that have been surveyed included retail outlets, residential properties, and production nurseries. There are no traces to commercial citrus orchards, however, they have also been inspected as a precaution.

Between the NT and WA, close to 12,500 plants have been destroyed and disposed of in accordance with the agreed response strategy for citrus canker.

Yours sincerely

 

Nathan Hancock

CEO

Citrus Australia Ltd