Giant Snails Carrying Meningitis Are Causing Concern in Florida

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.newsweek.com/giant-snail...lorida-1720805

Giant Snails Carrying Meningitis Are Causing Concern in Florida
By Emma Mayer On 6/30/22 at 5:05 PM EDT

A giant snail species prone to carrying the parasite that leads to meningitis has been found in an area of Florida, which is under quarantine as experts work to get rid of the invasive creatures.

Giant African land snails were found in the city of New Port Richey area, in Pasco County, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) confirmed on June 23...

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/lo...9-efdd2873ad10

2,000 Giant African Land Snails found in Pasco County, some with rat lungworm
The investigation continues into how the world's most damaging snail ended up in Pasco County.
Author: Malique Rankin, Lucille Lannigan, Angela Clooney
Published: 4:52 PM EDT July 21, 2022
Updated: 6:44 PM EDT July 21, 2022

PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — It'll take the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services 17 months to survey and treat a quarantined portion of Pasco County for Giant African Land Snails.

The snails, known to be the most damaging in the world, can lay up to 2,000 eggs a year. And now, it's confirmed some of the snails collected have tested positive for rat lungworm disease. The disease can be passed to humans and cause meningitis.

Jason Stanley, a nematologist with FDAC, said rat lungworm was detected in the snails last week.

"The snails feed on rat feces," Stanley said. The snails get lungworm from the rats, then, if humans eat the snails, the parasite can be passed on, causing meningitis.

"We've found close to 2,000 snails in the quarantine area," he said. "We continue to find some, but they're on the previously positive property. The treatment is working really well so we're finding a lot of dead snails now, which is what we want to do."...