Florida once again has a giant African land snail problem

Florida is facing an invasion of giant African land snails which pose a threat to agriculture and the environment.

Current situation: The state has declared a quarantine and treatment area in Broward County after a giant African land snail was spotted north of Miami.
* Two other quarantines are already in place in Lee County and Pasco County.
* The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has warned that the snails are highly destructive to tropical and subtropical environments.

Reproduction and risks: These snails contain both male and female reproductive organs and can lay up to 500 eggs at a time.
* They can grow up to 8 inches long and almost 5 inches in diameter.
* Giant African land snails can carry rat lungworm, a parasite that can cause a rare form of meningitis in humans.

Past invasions: Florida has previously eradicated the invasive snail twice, with the most recent eradication effort costing over $23 million.
* The current eradication process in Miramar will involve repeat applications of molluscicide and surveys, including detection by a trained dog, before the quarantine can be lifted.

View original article on NPR

This summary was created by an AI system. The use of this summary is subject to our Terms of Service.

Contact us about this post

Posted

in

by

Tags:

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *