Industry Update

Queensland fruit fly (Qfly) - South Perth Outbreak

Queensland fruit fly (Qfly) has been detected in South Perth and Como. A Quarantine Area has been declared to support eradication activities. 

Current Status

A Quarantine Area has been declared to support eradication activities. The Quarantine Area is comprised of two zones. A Red Zone (Corrective Action Zone) and an Orange Zone (Export Assurance Zone).  

The Red Zone (Corrective Action Zone)

The Red Zone is an area within a 1.5km radius around the Qfly detections. Activities within the zone include intensive street tree baiting, property inspections, supplementary trap deployment and significant community engagement.

The restrictions on residents and businesses in the Red Zone include:

• Residents and businesses must remove ripe and ripening fruit and fruiting vegetables from host plants every three days.
• Fallen fruit must be picked up, treated and disposed of immediately.
• Fruit must either be eaten immediately or treated before disposing of in the general waste bin.
• Home grown host fruit and fruiting vegetables must not be moved within or out of the Red Zone unless it has been treated.

The Orange Zone (Export Assurance Zone)

The Orange Zone is an area within a 15km radius around the Qfly detections. This zone acts as a buffer to prevent further spread of the pest.

The restrictions on residents and businesses in the Orange Zone include:

• Host fruit and fruiting vegetables must not be moved outside of the zone unless they have been treated.
• Host fruit and fruiting vegetables moving within the Orange Zone, or into the Red Zone must be maintained under secure conditions (covered, in packaging, fully enclosed or screened) to ensure the produce des not become infested.
• The Chief Plant Biosecurity Officer Approved Measures for the movement of fruit or host plants can be found on wa.gov.au/qfly

Perth Markets fall within the Orange Zone and the Incident Response Team is working closely with the market agents and growers to ensure the risk of Qfly is minimised.

The full Quarantine Area Notice can be found on wa.gov.au/qfly

Next steps

Response activities continue to ramp up, particularly within the Red Zone. Qfly response staff will commence residential inspections from next week to accompany the ongoing street tree baiting program. 

A comprehensive stakeholder engagement strategy is being implemented, with several briefings already occurring with industry and key stakeholders. Signage has begun to be deployed throughout the Red Zone.

There will be an industry webinar in the next couple of weeks to provide further information.

Working with industry

We are committed to keeping industry informed and engaged throughout the response. Stakeholder feedback will continue to inform response activities where appropriate. 

Reporting and information

Suspected Qfly can be reported to the Pest and Disease Information Service on 9368 3080 or via the MyPestGuide® Reporter app.

Up-to-date information is available at: wa.gov.au/qfly

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Important disclaimer
The Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and the State of Western Australia accept no liability whatsoever by reason of negligence or otherwise arising from the use or release of this information or any part of it.

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