Hundreds of Giant Snails Invade Florida
Hundreds of African giant snails are spreading across Florida. The invasive animals are causing massive damage and threatening agriculture.
Large numbers of African giant snails have suddenly appeared along Florida's Gulf Coast, according to local authorities.
The animals not only threaten to destroy a wide variety of plants and trees, but also pose a risk of transmitting a rare form of meningitis to humans.
Native to East Africa, the snail is one of the most harmful snails in the world and, according to the US Department of Agriculture, feeds on at least 500 different plant species, tree bark, and even paint and stucco on buildings.
The invasion could have devastating consequences for Florida's agriculture and natural environment, as the snails cause extensive damage in tropical and subtropical regions.
The snail is listed as one of the 100 most invasive species in the world.
The snail, whose shell can grow as large as a human fist, frequently carries a parasite known as the «rat lungworm», which can transmit a type of meningitis. Symptoms of the disease include muscle pain, headaches, a stiff neck, fever, and vomiting.
More than 1,000 of these animals have been collected in the Tampa suburb of New Port Richey in Pasco County. All animals tested so far were not infected with the «rat lungworm» , said Greg Hodges, deputy director of the state Division of Plant Industry.
State officials first discovered the infestation on 23 June.
They are stressing how important it is neither to touch nor to ingest the snail in order to avoid infection.
«Most importantly, do not eat them. This is not a snail you put in butter, oil, and garlic. This is not something you should touch. You should not eat it either«, said Nikki Fried, Commissioner of the Florida Department of Agriculture.
To eradicate the snails, the state has placed an area around New Port Richey under surveillance and will treat all properties within this zone until the snails have been eliminated, according to the department's website.
Treatment with metaldehyde, a pesticide used to control snails and slugs, will last 18 months, and the area will be monitored for two more years after the last snail is found.
It is unclear how the snail arrived in Florida, but the U.S. Department of Agriculture's website states that it is a frequent stowaway in cargo. It can also be illegally introduced by people as food or as a pet.
This is the third time the giant African land snail has been found in Florida.
In the 1960s, it cost $1 million (€988,400) and 10 years to eradicate it. A second infestation in 2010 took another decade and $23 million (€22.7 million) to eliminate.
If snail populations spread beyond a core concentration in the New Port Richey area, it could take longer than expected to eradicate the pests.
