![]() ![]() In 2010, a second infestation took another decade and $23 million to eradicate. In the 1960s, it took $1 million and 10 years to eradicate. It is the third time that the giant African land snail has been found in Florida. Department of Agriculture's website said is a common hitchhiker on cargo or illegally imported by people for the purpose of food or as pets. It is unclear how the snail made its way to Florida, but the U.S. The treatment with metaldehyde, a pesticide used to control snails and slugs, will take 18 months, and the area will monitored for two years after the last snail find. To eradicate the snails, the state has placed an area of the county around New Port Richey under watch and will treat all properties within the zone until the snails are eliminated, the department's website said. This is not something you want to eat," Florida Department of Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried said. This is not a snail to be put on butter and oil and garlic. Officials stressed the importance of not touching nor ingesting the snail to prevent infections. State officials first detected the infestation on June 23. ![]() All of those tested as of Thursday were not carrying the rat lungworm parasite, Greg Hodges, assistant director of the state's Division of Plant Industry, said at a briefing. More than a thousand of the creatures have been collected in the Tampa suburb of New Port Richey in Pasco County, officials said. The gastropod, whose shell can grow to the size of a human fist, often carries a parasite known as rat lungworm that can transmit a type of meningitis whose symptoms include muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, fever and vomiting. Department of Agriculture's website said. The snail, native to East Africa, is one of the most damaging in the world, eating at least 500 different types of plants, tree bark, and even paint and stucco on houses, the U.S. July 8 (Reuters) - Hundreds of giant African land snails have turned up on Florida's Gulf Coast, officials said on Friday, threatening to destroy a vast array of plants and trees, and posing the risk of transmitting a rare type of meningitis to humans. ![]()
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