The invasive giant African land snail has been spotted in Florida
An invasive species of large snail that can grow to the size of a human fist and carries a parasite that can cause meningitis has been spotted in Florida’s second most populous county, prompting officials to establish a quarantine zone to to keep it under control.
The species, the giant African land snail, was discovered earlier this month in Miramar, Florida, north of Miami. On Tuesday, after completing a survey of the area, state agriculture officials decided to quarantine a 3.5-square-mile portion of Broward County.
People living in that zone can come and go, but it is illegal to move the snails, as well as soil, debris, yard waste, or plants, inside or outside the quarantine area without a compliance agreement from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
African land snails thrive in warm, wet climates, underscoring the urgency of ramping up mitigation efforts, said William Kern, an associate professor at the University of Florida who specializes in nuisance wildlife management.
“This is when we want to take them down, because this is when they really start cranking up their population,” said Dr. Core.
The giant African land snail is “one of the most invasive pests in the world” said the Florida Department of Agriculture. The snails feed on at least 500 species of plants, including crops such as sweet corn, beans, lettuce and cabbage. They can have a devastating effect on Florida’s agriculture and wildlife habitats “as they wreak havoc on tropical and subtropical environments,” the department said. said in a statement announcement of the quarantine.
The snail also carries a parasite, rat lungworm, which causes meningitis in humans and animals. People can become infected if they come into contact with the snail or its mucus, for example by eating unwashed vegetables or produce that one of the snails has touched.
Florida agriculture officials use a snail bait containing metaldehyde, a pesticide approved for household use, to kill the snails.
The giant African land snail has gone extinct in Florida twice since the species was first discovered in the state in 1969, according to Florida’s Department of Agriculture: first in 1975 and again in 2021, after the snails were discovered in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties in 2011.
However, last year they were spotted in Pasco County, north of Tampa, prompting a quarantine that remains active. Lee County was quarantined this year.
The agriculture department didn’t immediately give a timeline for how long it would take to eradicate the snails this time.
It’s unclear exactly how the snails got back to Florida. It’s possible they came across as stowaways on shipping containers, or as eggs in potted plants people brought home from the Caribbean, said Dr. Core. Some may also have survived previous mitigation efforts, he said.