According to Biosecurity Queensland Panama TR4 Program Leader Rhiannon Evans, the disease has been found in six Queensland farms that are "close to one another," posing an increasing threat to Australia's $1 billion banana industry.
According to Ms. Evans, the disease was found in industrial crops in north Queensland in 2015. She said the biosecurity measures in place "have really limited the potential for this disease to spread."
And Queensland has actually had one of the most effective containment and control strategies for this illness ever seen. Despite an uptick in attacks on the common fruit in recent months, Ms. Evans said that current studies on the control of the disease in other countries means bananas will still be on store shelves in the future.