Myrtle rust found in the Bay of Plenty

Myrtle rust, pictured on willow myrtle. Photo/file

Myrtle rust fungus has been found in the Bay of Plenty.

Laboratory tests by the Ministry for Primary Industries have confirmed that the plant fungus myrtle rust is present in Te Puke.

The infection has been found in a 25-year-old ramarama plant in a private residential garden. It is the first find in a number of weeks outside of the key infection area in Taranaki.

Myrtle rust response incident controller David Yard said the new find was disappointing.

"We had thought that the incursion could be contained to the small geographical area around Waitara.

"While it's too early to say what the new detection will mean in terms of the ongoing operation, it's certainly not good news in terms of its distribution in New Zealand."

Mr Yard said the property concerned had been placed under controls so any movement of plant material or other risk goods from the property was stopped.

The ministry has a team removing the affected plant, spraying the area with fungicide and doing a thorough check of the garden. The team will also begin a concentrated survey of vegetation surrounding the find.

"Our preliminary talks with the property owner have not found any obvious link with the situation in Taranaki or Northland, and there have been no recent nursery plant introductions to the garden. This lends weight to the possibility that this new location is a wind-borne infection."

Mr Yard said the Te Puke home owner should be congratulated for being responsive and contacting the ministry when she saw suspicious symptoms on her tree.

"The public response to myrtle rust has been huge and gratifying. So far we've had 822 calls reporting suspected myrtle rust. It's vital information. Building our knowledge of this issue and the distribution of the disease will enable us to make the best possible decisions about managing this into the future."

Rotorua MP Todd McClay said myrtle rust didn't affect kiwifruit or avocado plants and he had been given assurances by the Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy the Ministry would do everything it could to manage the wind-borne fungus in the Bay of Plenty.

"It is business as usual for kiwifruit growers who have recovered so well from PSA, but I recognise there will be some uncertainty for others including the Manuka honey sector," Mr McClay said.

"It's obviously very disappointing that this wind-borne fungus has spread to the Bay of Plenty, but MPI will do everything within their power to manage this infection.

Mr McClay said the fast diagnosis by the property owner will help efforts to contain the infection.

"I want to recognise that the property owner has done the right thing in identifying myrtle rust and promptly reporting the infection to MPI," Mr McClay said.

"The faster MPI know about these infections the greater the chance it has of limiting its spread.

"We saw during the PSA outbreak just how resilient our growers and communities can be. I would again urge local people to show the same vigilance with myrtle rust and report any concerns as quickly as possible to MPI's Biosecurity hotline on 0800 80 99 66."

To date there are 46 known infected properties in New Zealand - four in Northland, two in Waikato, 39 in Taranaki and the one new find in Bay of Plenty.