Banana plant destruction methods to be used for any future detections of Panama TR4 would be considered on a “case-by-case” basis, Biosecurity Queensland (BQ) said.

At time of writing, in March 2016, the first TR4 infested property has had detections of the disease on five separate parts of the farm. BQ said each detection on the infested property has been individually reviewed by a panel of scientific experts.

“The experts make recommendations about the most appropriate destruction method. These methods are informed by situational information, scientific literature and the scientists’ intricate knowledge of the pathogen and how it spreads, as well as other technical and operational factors.”

BQ said any future detections would “continue to be assessed on a case-by-case basis and the destruction method will be tailored to suit”.