Qld: Fire ants confirmed near Gladstone

AAP General News (Australia)
04-10-2006
Qld: Fire ants confirmed near Gladstone

Tests have confirmed ants found near the central Queensland port of Gladstone are fire
ants .. listed as one of the world's top 100 pests.

But it's not yet known if they've been brought in from overseas by ship .. or if they're
from other infestations around Brisbane.

The Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries says DNA tests are underway to pinpoint
the source of the Gladstone infestation.





Fire Ant Control Centre teams will return to the area soon to begin baiting properties
in a two kilometre radius around the infested site.

The nests found there have already been destroyed and no suspect ants have been found
in either the city of Gladstone or the Port of Gladstone.

South American fire ants have a stinging bite that affects humans and cattle and they
can make land unusable.

AAP RTV rad/tm/goc/

KEYWORD: FIREANTS (BRISBANE)

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