Red zone declared in Perth's south after Queensland fruit fly detected in Willagee, Palmyra
By Kate Christian
Topic:Pests
14m ago14 minutes agoTue 10 Dec 2024 at 4:16am
A Queensland fruit fly sits on a green leaf
The Queensland fruit fly, or Qfly, was detected in Palmyra and Willagee in Perth's south. (Supplied: DPIRD)
In short:
The Queensland fruit fly (Qfly), which poses a serious threat to horticultural industries, has been discovered in Willagee and Palmyra in Perth's south.
A quarantine zone encompassing multiple suburbs has been established.
What's next:
Residents in a 'red zone' have been urged to remove all fruit and fruiting vegetables.
Residents in a swathe of suburbs in Perth's south are being urged to remove all fruit and fruiting vegetables from their gardens following the detection of the Queensland fruit fly.
A quarantine area has been declared after the Qfly was detected in Willagee and Palmyra as authorities move swiftly to stop the spread of the invasive pest, which could seriously impact Western Australia's horticulture industries.
Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) Chief Plant Biosecurity Officer Vincent Lanoiselet said people in the red zone of the quarantine area must act quickly to treat, eat or destroy all fruit and vegetables from their gardens.
Suburbs affected are included on an interactive map on the DPIRD website, stretching from Bicton in the north, Hilton and East Fremantle in the west, Booragoon and Bull Creek in the east and Coolbellup in the south.
Other suburbs included in the red zone are Melville, Myaree, North Lake, Kardinya and Samson.
A map showing a red zone around suburbs in Perth's south near Fremantle
The red zone encompasses several suburbs including Melvile, Myaree, North Lake, Coolbellup, Kardinya, Samson and Hilton. (Supplied: DPIRD)
Dr Lanoiselet told ABC Radio Perth residents in the red zone could eat their homegrown produce if it was ripe, or could treat it by securing it in a black plastic bag and placing it on a hard surface in direct sunlight for more than seven days.
However, it should not be moved.
"For anyone living within the red zone, it is very important to not move any fruit within the zone or outside of the zone," he said.
He said the Qfly posed a "very significant" threat to more than 300 types of fruit and vegetables including chillies, capsicums and tomatoes.
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"The Queensland fruit fly is a very significant pest ... [which is] present in other jurisdictions such as the NT, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria and it's a pest we really don't want in WA."
Dr Lanoiselet said the pest was detected by the department's surveillance program, which included more than 2,000 fruit fly traps in the metropolitan area.
The quarantine area encompasses suburbs within a 15km radius of where the Qfly was first discovered in Willagee and Palmyra.
The Qfly has been has eradicated from the Perth metropolitan area nine times since 1989,most recently in Bayswater and Belmont in 2023, Dalkeith, Claremont and Nedlands in 2020 and Coolbellup in 2021.
At the time, the government said the 2021 eradication campaign had saved the state's horticulture industry and economy an estimated $38 million annually in lost production and market access.
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Posted14m ago14 minutes agoTue 10 Dec 2024 at 4:16am, updated14m ago14 minutes agoTue 10 Dec 2024 at 4:17am
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