Author: DPI Queensland
Date Posted: February 21, 2012

The communique has been developed to provide regular updates on myrtle rust in Queensland. If there is additional information that you would like included in the communiqué's, please email myrtlerust@deedi.qld.gov.au.
Future updates will be sent out on a monthly basis.

Current situation - No extension of geographic range of myrtle rust in Queensland

The geographic range of myrtle rust in Queensland remains restricted to South East and Central Queensland from the New South Wales border to Yeppoon and west to Toowoomba.

There has been no recorded extension of range since the previous January e-newsletter. While this is good news, it is not expected to last with the disease expected to continue to spread north along the east coast of Queensland over the coming months.

Maps showing the location of confirmed detections and highly suspect public reports (i.e. reports that have been diagnosed using photographic or other evidence) of myrtle rust in Queensland are available on the Biosecurity Queensland website. These maps show detections/reports in both nursery situations and the environment by month since the disease was first detected in Queensland in December 2010. While the disease has been confirmed in nurseries in Cairns, Townsville, Airlie Beach and Chinchilla, to date there is no evidence that the disease has established in the environment in any of these centres.

 

Victorian situation

The following extract has been taken from the ‘Myrtle Rust’ webpage on the Department of Primary Industries Victoria (DPIV) website:

DPIV has now detected myrtle rust at 23 sites in Victoria, mainly at production nurseries and wholesale outlets in and around metropolitan Melbourne.

Click the image to the right to view a larger, resizable map in a new window.

The majority of these detections resulted from DPIV tracing the movement of myrtle rust host material from infected premises.

Five of the detections are on private properties. The infected plants have either been removed or treated as required and monitoring of the properties will continue.

DPIV is also taking regulatory action to ensure affected nurseries correctly deal with the infected material. This involves safe disposal, or treatment and reinspection, of the infected material and treatment of all Myrtaceae plants in the nursery before release.

This containment strategy will assist in slowing the spread of the disease to the environment.

Tracing has also shown that there are more than 100 properties which are linked to infected premises and need to be inspected.

DPIV is also continuing its survey program to determine how far the disease has spread and at what point containment is no longer practical.

Meanwhile, Victoria is maintaining import restrictions on myrtle rust host material from other states where the disease is present.

 

Queensland statistics

Total number of known myrtle rust cases in Queensland - 1130

Total number of known affected (host) species in Queensland - 125

Total number of Council areas with myrtle rust cases - 19

Names of Council areas with myrtle rust cases

• Brisbane City
• Bundaberg Regional
• Cairns Regional
• Fraser Coast Regional
• Gladstone Regional
• Gold Coast City
• Gympie Regional
• Ipswich City
• Logan City
• Moreton Bay Regional
• Redland City
• Rockhampton Regional
• Scenic Rim Regional
• South Burnett Regional
• Sunshine Coast Regional
• Toowoomba Regional
• Townsville City
• Western Downs Regional
• Whitsunday Regional

 

 New hosts

 Since the last e-newsletter (20 January 2012), six new species have been confirmed as hosts of myrtle rust in Queensland. These are:

• Melaleuca linariifolia
• Xanthostemon chrysanthus
• Mitrantia bilocularis
• Backhousia bancroftii
• Syzygium dansiei
• Rhodamnia australis

 

One of these new host species, Mitrantia bilocularis, is from a new genus bringing the total number of genera from which host species have been confirmed in Queensland to 35.

The Queensland host list is routinely updated and can be viewed on the Biosecurity Queensland website.

 

ICA now available for nursery businesses consigning to interstate markets

Queensland nursery businesses can now be accredited under the Interstate Certification Assurance (ICA) Scheme to certify consignments of myrtaceous plants as meeting interstate quarantine entry requirements for myrtle rust. Accreditation under the ICA Scheme is an alternative to certification by Biosecurity Queensland inspectors and will help nursery businesses save both time and money.

A new ICA Operational Procedure, Nursery Freedom, Treatment and Inspection for Myrtle Rust (ICA-42), has recently been endorsed which allows businesses to become accredited to issue Plant Health Assurance Certificates for consignments of nursery stock of the Myrtaceae family to verify they meet the quarantine entry requirements of the Northern Territory, Victoria and South Australia.

To become accredited under this new ICA-42 Operational Procedure, nursery businesses are required to have at least one staff member complete an approved training course for appointment as an ‘Authorised Inspection Person’. The Nursery and Garden Industry Queensland has been approved to deliver the ICA Authorised Inspection Person (Myrtle Rust) Training Course on behalf of Biosecurity Queensland.
Read more about the ICA Scheme and what businesses have to do to become accredited.

 

Myrtle rust information sessions

Since the last e-newsletter, Myrtle Rust Information Sessions were held in Mackay on 14 February 2012. The response from Mackay Regional Council officers and businesses in the area was encouraging–especially given the disease is yet to be confirmed in the area.

Feedback continues to be supportive of the sessions and the need for more information on management options, identification materials and ongoing research on different aspects of the disease. These comments are always welcome and continue to be taken into consideration for future planning of the Program.

Future sessions have now been booked in for Cairns for next Wednesday, 29 February 2012 (for Council officers and affected businesses) and Thursday 1 March, 2012 (for the Community). These sessions will be held at the Botanic Gardens Visitor Centre, Collins Avenue, Edge Hill.

If you would like more information about the Information Sessions in Cairns, contact Jacinda Chisholm on 3239 3970 or Riki Fulton on 3117 8515.

Planning is underway to hold Information Sessions in Gladstone and Townsville next month and for events and presentations to interested groups in South East Queensland.

 

Australian Government establishes National Myrtle Rust Transition to Management Program

The Australian Government is investing $1.5 million from July 2011 to June 2013 to progress a transition from eradication of myrtle rust to management of the disease as it becomes naturalised and established in Australia. The key objective of the National Myrtle Rust Transition to Management Program is to provide information and tools to enable industries and communities to mitigate the impacts of the disease in urban, primary production and natural environments.

The program will complement work that is currently underway or is planned by other jurisdictions and research organisations.

The program will be implemented as a series of research and development projects designed to provide multi-jurisdictional benefits with both immediate outcomes and longer term benefits.

The program will be delivered through a range of contracts under the oversight of a Myrtle Rust Transition Management Group (MRTMG). The MRTMG will be chaired by the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) and include senior representatives from Biosecurity Queensland and Biosecurity New South Wales. The Department of Primary Industries Victoria has also recently been invited to be represented on the MRTMG now the disease has been confirmed in that state. The MRTMG will oversee program establishment, monitor its delivery and consider any triggers arising that necessitate a review of the program.

Plant Health Australia will act as administrators and fund managers for the program.
Read more on the National Myrtle Rust Transition to Management Program and copies of the Australian Government’s Plan for Transition to Management of Myrtle Rust.

 

Report myrtle rust

Please continue to send in your reports of myrtle rust - the more we know about the disease, including where it is and what plants it's affecting, the more we can learn about how to manage it and the potential impacts. 
Report myrtle rust by calling 13 25 23 or filling out the online reporting form.