The giant African snail can grow to eight inches in length and poses a serious health risk to humans according to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
In the last 50 or so years, the state has done battle with the snails on a number of occasions, including in 1975 and last year.
The officials may have missed some of them. On June 25th, two days after the FDACS confirmed a detection of the snails, they banned residents from moving any items that may have come in contact with the snails outside of a designated area.
The battle to control the spread of the African snail in South Florida has been going on for over 50 years, and the incident shows how difficult it is.
The FDACS wants residents to not touch the snails without gloves, while also opening a hotline to find them. The African snail can carry a disease called rat lungworm, which can cause inflammation of the brain and spine in humans.
snail bait is being used to catch the foe.
It's likely that authorities will be able to get the situation under control, but it's only a matter of time before the crawlers come back.
There is an African snail in Florida.
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