Friday, June 15, 2018

Citrus Canker Update for NT - 15 June 2018

At a press conference this morning a new location has been announced where citrus canker has been detected - the Marrakai area SE of Darwin.

The Press release is here - http://mediareleases.nt.gov.au/mediaRelease/26747
As noted, once again as for all others, it is present on nursery stock supplied from a single nursery in the Darwin area.

While there seems to be no detection of the disease on commercial citrus producers so far, the question that is absolutely pertinent has not been openly explored.........what is the origin of the infection in the nursery?  Everyone seems to be skirting around this issue, or at least can the identification of possible sources be explained, and also how long it may have been present.

So far the traceback is extending to 12 months before first confirmation, so presumably, it may have been around in the nursery for that period, or up to that period.

While getting on with methodical work locating the movement of material from the nursery continues [ and there seems to be evidence quite a lot have gone interstate], the method of infection is not openly discussed, or argued.

Maybe it was windborne spores .......technically possible, if insects can move into the region from airborne travel in monsoonal weather [ blue tongue insect vectors for example].



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