Te Puke and wider Bay of Plenty residents have an anxious wait as the Ministry for Primary Industries scours the town for myrtle rust.

The first known discovery of the infectious disease was on Tuesday in a private garden, which MPI quickly sprayed and removed.

MPI myrtle rust Incident Controller Daivd Yard says they hope to control and contain Te Puke after the disease "disappointingly" spread from Taranaki.

"The next two or three days will be quite critical for Te Puke because everybody will be waiting with bated breath to see if we find more symptoms," he said.

Yard assured kiwifruit owners the discovery would not affect them, adding that they hoped to contain the disease in Taranaki but the focus has since been eliminating any further findings.

"For places like Kerikeri and in the Waikato we have very low numbers of infected properties, so we're hoping that we can get Te Puke under control and contained very quickly."