US: Giant land snail invasion forces entire Florida county to be quarantined | Pasco County, Florida declared a quarantine

boycott Pascolocated in Florida, you must have Self Quarantine for a new invasion giant african snail. Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) authorities have confirmed that terrestrial slugs, which can grow to the size of a fist, also carry A parasite that causes meningitis. So they suggest wearing gloves when handling it.

State officials had to order the quarantine due to the resurgence of this species that went extinct just a year ago, after more than a decade of fighting the plague.

Agriculture and Consumer Services employees described the giant African species as “One of the most harmful subspecies of mollusks” around the world because of its ability to It irreversibly affects crops, vegetation and infrastructure.

“These samples They have a wide ability to reproduce, with more than a thousand eggs at a time since she was four months old. In addition, they have a great ability to cling to vehicles, which benefits them in transportation from one place to another and distributed over several regions.They pointed out from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Parasite vector

As if that weren’t enough, giant African snails are a public health hazard. They are carriers of a parasite called Rat lungworm causes meningitisIt is an inflammatory disease that affects the fluid and membranes of the brain and spinal cord CNN website.

Pascoe authorities believe that the snail population originated in Illegal pet trade. Giant African wild snails are illegal as pets in the United States, but some owners of exotic pets continue to keep these invasive pests. If abandoned in the wild or accidentally lost by homeowners, they can reproduce quickly, feeding on more than 500 different plant species and even consuming house paint and plaster as a source of calcium.

What does quarantine mean?

quarantine It came into effect on June 25 and prevents residents from moving the snail or related items, such as plants and earth, Inside or outside the designated area so that the pest does not spread further. Similarly, they advised residents who believe they have seen a giant African land snail to call the FDACS hotline and avoid touching it without gloves due to risk of meningitis.

FDACS plans Spend three years eradicating the population In Pasco County, using metaldehyde for soil treatment.

The state has begun treating the Pasco County quarantine area B snail taste that contains metaldehyde, An insecticide approved for use on vegetable and ornamental crops, fruit trees and other plants that disrupts and kills the digestive systems of giant African land snails.

decade-old epidemic

This isn’t the first time Florida has faced an infestation of giant snails. In 2011, a cluster of these pests was discovered in Miami-Dade County.. This population was not completely eradicated until 2021.

Whereas Miami-Dade County snails had gray flesh, Pasco County snails They have white meatThe authorities explained.

The fearsome snails, known to connoisseurs of invasive species like GALS, were discovered in June by a gardener in Pasco County, north of Tampa, the first time a group of them had been discovered outside of southern Florida.

The return of the snails was a surprising and unwelcome development in a country where wildlife often made headlines: a record-breaking 215-pound Burmese python was captured in the Everglades late last year, an invasive species Routinely wreaks havoc.