Whangarei Queensland fruit fly update
Whangarei Queensland fruit fly update
• No fruit
flies detected in traps in Zone A or in fruit collected and
examined from Controlled Area
properties.
•
• Traps in Zone A are cleared daily
and traps in Zone B are cleared and examined every three
days. The first results from the Zone B traps should be
available with tomorrow morning’s
update.
•
• MPI will release a regular update
late morning each day reporting the previous day’s
trapping results, unless there is a significant development
which would prompt earlier advice.
•
• 54 staff
are out in the field today and around 50 staff are working
on the response in Wellington.
•
• As previously
reported, there are restrictions on the movement of fruit
and some vegetables out of a defined Controlled Area around
where the single male Queensland fruit fly was found on
April 1. The Controlled Area is a circular zone extending
1.5km from the location of the fly find in Parihaka and
takes in areas of Parihaka, Riverside and central
Whangarei.
•
• Whole fruit and vegetables (except
for leafy and root vegetables) cannot be moved out of the
Controlled Area, although fruit and veges can be carried
into the Area.
•
• The restrictions are an
important precaution while MPI investigates whether any
further flies are present. If there are undetected flies out
there, the measures will help prevent their spread out of
the area.
•
• The Whangarei Countdown supermarket
in Okara Drive and the PAK’nSAVE Supermarket in Walton
Street are outside the Controlled Area and sales of fruit
and vegetables continue as usual.
•
• MPI asks
that people who have bought fruit and vegetables outside the
Controlled Area (for example in these supermarkets or the
weekly local farmers market), but need to travel through
this area, ensure the produce is in plastic bags for the
journey.
•
• Full information about the
Controlled Area and the restrictions, including maps and
full instructions is at: www.mpi.govt.nz – follow the fruit fly
button.
•
• MPI is running an extensive response
trapping network, as set out in an internationally-
validated standard, to lure any fruit flies that may be
present. Gardens and rubbish bins in the Controlled Area are
being inspected for any signs of fruit
flies.
•
• The Controlled Area comprises two
zones – Zone A extends 200m from the site of the detection
and Zone B goes from that 200m boundary out to
1500m.
•
• There are now 115 response traps in
Zone A and 195 response traps in Zone B. The original fruit
fly was found in a surveillance trap that is part of MPI’s
national surveillance programme. There are 13 of these
routine surveillance traps in the Controlled
Area.
•
• Residents in the Controlled Area have
been advised to dispose of all fruit and vegetable waste
through in-sink waste disposal units (where they have them)
or in bins provided by MPI. There are 215 of these MPI
disposal bins in the Controlled Area and at other high-risk
sites. MPI is emptying the bins and safely disposing of the
material.
•
• MPI has field laboratory facilities
in place examining fruit collected from gardens in the
Controlled Area and also to identify any suspect insects
collected. Again, no further fruit flies have been
found.
Ends