AU: Deadly citrus pest intercepted at Melbourne airport
Plant Health Australia says the insect is known to carry and spread the diseases huanglongbing, or citrus greening, a bacterial infestation which destroys citrus trees.
Chief executive and CEO Greg Fraser says it's a serious disease which could have created big problems for the industry. "The experience from the US is that when this thing gets established it'll actually kill quite mature trees, so that's a problem not only for the environment but also the community. A lot of us have citrus trees in the backyard, but also from a commercial perspective, this could be very devastating for a person's business."
Citrus Australia says it's prepared to deal with huanglongbing should it ever enter the country. Citrus Australia CEO Judith Damiani says the disease is yet to infiltrate Australian borders.
She says the organisation has been working hard to put the necessary contingency plans in place. "We've got two priority exotic diseases that we don't have and that we don't want, one is citrus canker and one is huanglongbing. So we've got contingency plans in place for canker and we've got contingency plans in place for huanglongbing."
Source: www.abc.net.au
