A new suspected case of Panama disease Tropical Race 4 (TR4) has been detected on a Tully Valley banana farm in Australia. 

Biosecurity Queensland officers identified banana plants that displayed symptoms typical of Panama TR4 during a routine inspection of the property last month.

With one sample from the suspect plants returning a positive result to a preliminary diagnostic test this becomes a suspected case of TR4.

While this result indicates strong evidence of the presence of the disease, further detailed diagnostic testing is needed to provide a conclusive result. This can take between two to four weeks. 

The suspect property is in close proximity to the three previously confirmed infested TR4 properties in the Tully Valley. If confirmed, this will be only the fourth property infested in Queensland since the disease was first detected in the state in 2015.

The grower has been notified and must now meet a set of regulatory biosecurity requirements to minimize the risk of disease spread.

Biosecurity Queensland is establishing a dedicated team to work with the grower to meet these requirements and reduce production downtime.

It's also working with the Australian Banana Growers’ Council (ABGC) to manage the risk of disease spread to the rest of the industry, and carrying out tracing and surveillance to determine the possible extent of the disease on the property, and on other linked land parcels.