Virus detected in tomato seedlings recently moved from South Australia
Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) has been detected at a tomato glasshouse facility in Victoria in seedlings recently moved from South Australia.
Victoria’s chief plant health officer, Rosa Crnov, said quarantine controls were in place at the property and Agriculture Victoria was working closely with the business to ensure the virus does not spread and is eradicated.
“After national agreement on a pilot protocol to support trade, tomato seedlings were moved without authorisation from a decontaminated production nursery in South Australia to the Victorian business in mid-December 2024,” Crnov said.
“Following notification that a plant grown in association with these seedlings had tested positive in South Australia, Agriculture Victoria implemented movement controls on the glasshouses at the Victorian facility and conducted extensive surveillance, which identified an infected plant.
“This detection is linked to a specific movement of plant material and there is no evidence that ToBRFV is present in any other location in Victoria.”
The seedlings moved from South Australia into Victoria were kept in glasshouses away from other plants on the Victorian property and were under biosecurity control.
Crnov said Agriculture Victoria acknowledged the virus has significant impacts on the business and it was committed to working with the business to eradicate the virus from its property.
“Response activities are being implemented in line with the nationally agreed response plan that is in place in South Australia, with the aim of eradicating the virus from Australia,” said Crnov.
‘The entire property has been placed under biosecurity control to stop the movement of host products until further investigations are completed.
“We maintain confidence in the freedom of the rest of the state from ToBRFV and continue to monitor the national situation closely to determine if changes to our biosecurity measures are required.”
There will be no further movements to Victoria under the pilot protocol following the detection of ToBRFV.
