No fruit flies detected in Whangarei
No fruit flies detected in Whangarei
Situation update
8 - 11 April 2014
• No fruit flies detected in traps
or in fruit collected and examined from Controlled Area
properties.
•
• Traps in Zone A are currently
cleared daily and traps in Zone B are cleared and examined
every three days.
•
• Over this weekend (Saturday
12 and Sunday 13 April) MPI will not provide a situation
update unless there is a significant
development.
•
• Updates will continue to be
posted next week at: http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/pests/queensland-fruit-fly
under the heading Media Releases and situation
updates.
•
• 44 staff are out in the field today,
clearing traps and disposal bins and collecting fruit for
sampling.
•
• Personnel will also be present at
the weekend’s international motor rally, the children’s
triathlon event and the regular farmers market to hand out
information.
•
• Restrictions remain in place 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.
•
• 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 118 response traps in
Zone A and 200 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 223 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