Florida once again has giant calamitous snails that spew parasitic brain worms

The giant snail species is so destructive that it is capable of spreading parasites that can cause brain damage.

According to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the giant African land snail is one of the most destructive pests in the world. Over 500 plant species are feasted on, while prolifically spawning, pushing out thousands of eggs in its multiyear life span.

The state of Florida confirmed the presence of GALS on a property in the west-central coast of the state. They began snail-killing pesticide treatments last week, after setting up a Quarantine Zone around the property.

The snails are a grave threat to agriculture and the mollusks pose a health risk. They're known to transmit rat lungworm parasites, which can cause a disease called Meningitis. People are warned not to handle mammoth snails without gloves.

Brain invasion

There were more than a dozen cases of rat lungworm in Hawaii in the last two years. Several unconnected cases from eight continental states were published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the last year.

The rat lungworm—aka Angiostrongylus cantonensis—gets its name by primarily infecting the lungs of rats and other rodents. In the lungs, adult worms mate and females lay eggs, which develop into larvae. The rats then cough up those young parasites and end up swallowing them, then pooping them out.

In the event that the mollusks feast on the feces of theintermediate hosts, the snails and slugs can be bitten by the larvae. Rats deliver late-stage larvae that migrate from the rodents' stomachs to their brain, where the worms develop into young adults, in the last steps of this gut-turning life cycle. The mature worms return to the rats' lungs.

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Humans are host in this cycle. People who eat fruits and vegetables that are contaminated by snails or slugs are at risk of getting a disease. When worms are eaten by humans, they travel to the central nervous system.

Third eradication effort

They don't usually make it out of the house. There is a place where they die in theCNS. The worms die quietly and there is no need to treat them. In other cases, the worms wriggle through the brain, wreaking havoc before kicking the bucket and causing a wide range of symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, neck stiffness, eye problems, abnormal sensations in the arms and legs, and headaches that are often global and severe. Nerve damage, paralysis, coma, and death can be caused by a severe case.

There are many reasons why officials in Florida want to eradicate these slimy creatures. Florida has fought the mollusks before. The eradication of giant African land snails took place in 1975. Three of them were brought back from Hawaii as pets and eventually released into the wild. They may have hitched rides on cargo or been brought into the state by religious groups for use in healing rituals.