Giant African land snail discovered in Florida forces county to quarantine

• A giant African land snail that can transmit meningitis has been found in Florida.
• After the discovery, authorities put a county under quarantine.
• Officials warned residents not to touch the snails under any circumstance.

The discovery of a specimen of giant African land snail, an invasive species that can cause meningitis in humans, led local authorities to impose a quarantine on a Florida county, EFE reported on Monday.

Local media reported on Sunday about the discovery in New Port Richey, in western Florida, of a giant African land snail that forced the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) to impose a quarantine and begin treating the area with pesticides.

Giant African land snail can cause meningitis

According to the state agency, this species is «one of the most harmful snails in the world and consumes at least 500 different types of plants» so its presence could be «devastating» for local farmers. These snails «also pose a serious health risk to humans by harboring rat lungworm, which is known to cause meningitis in humans,» FDACS warned.

With the quarantine order, the state agency wants to prevent residents from coming into contact with, moving and releasing these gastropod mollusks into nature. The snails can measure up to eight inches (20 centimeters) in length, according to EFE.

Residents are warned not to touch the snails

The authorities told residents in that area of ​​Florida that if they find any of these snails in or around their homes they should immediately alert the local authorities to handle the matter safely. Officials stress that no one should have any contact with the snails.

This snail species, which can produce up to 2,500 eggs a year and whose import without special permission is prohibited in the United States, has been exterminated in the past on two occasions. The last was in Miami-Dade County, in southeast Florida, where they were discovered in 2011 and declared eradicated ten years later. The state agency plans to exterminate these snails by means of metaldehyde-based pesticides that will be sprayed in the area over the next three years.