Australian states have closed their borders to bananas as a result of another plant disease outbreak in the Top End.
National biosecurity officials have decided to quarantine the NT as an immediate response to the surprise find of banana freckle last week.
An emergency meeting of those officials on Friday also decided the outbreak was still "technically feasible to eradicate".
The disease is so far isolated to one property at Batchelor, about 100km to the south of Darwin.
Biosecurity staff have launched a surveillance operation across the Top End looking for more cases of the disease.
The focus is on nearby properties with banana plants including the property where the Batchelor plant was sourced.
Meantime, one biosecurity outbreak which is likely beyond eradication is Japanese encephalitis with many cases across the south of the continent.
The virus has escaped into the Top End's feral pig population.
Since March, 44 infected feral pigs have been detected in the Victoria Daly, Litchfield, Marrakai-Douglas Daly and Cox-Daly region, as well as the Tiwi Islands.
To date, no domestic pigs or mosquitoes in the NT have tested positive to JEV.
The NT's chief veterinary officer, Dr Sue Fitzpatrick, said they had been working with property owners who have had feral pigs with JEV detected on or near their properties.
The more concerning biosecurity breach at the moment is banana freckle.
The surprise detection came the banana industry was systematically wiped out in the NT from 2013-2019 in the largest plant pest eradication ever attempted in Australia.
Almost 500 properties were found to be infected with banana freckle during the last wave.
The eradication program cost an estimated $26 million.
Most of Australia's bananas today are grown in Queensland, where the industry is valued at about $600 million.
Banana freckle cannot be eradicated by the use of chemicals, the banana plants have to be removed to get rid of the disease.
The Consultative Committee on Emergency Plant Pests met on Friday to consider a national response to the find.
A response plan is being developed based on removing infected plants; tracing and surveillance; compliance; and community engagement.
On May 23, Dwarf Cavendish fruit from a property in the Batchelor-Rum Jungle area was tested at Berrimah Agricultural Laboratory, with the disease confirmed as banana freckle (Phyllosticta cavandishii).
A second sample was sent to the Australian Centre for Genomic Analysis in Queensland which provided confirmation of the disease on June 2.
The affected tree was planted as a leafless sucker which had been sourced locally in 2019, the year the freckle outbreak was declared won.
The infected property has been quarantined by the Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism.
Most states, including Western Australia and Queensland, have restrictions in place that prohibits banana fruit and/or banana plant material being brought in from the NT.
The many visitors to the Top End for the dry season are being advised not to take banana fruit, the peel or banana plant material out of the area from which it was purchased.
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Chris McLennan
ACM national rural property writer based in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria. Career journalist. Multi award winner.
ACM national rural property writer based in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria. Career journalist. Multi award winner.
