Parts of Broward County under quarantine after return of invasive African land snail
BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – Parts of Broward County are under quarantine after the return of the invasive African land snail.
The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services ordered parts of Broward County to quarantine Tuesday after the snails were found in the Miramar area.
The snails pose a serious health risk to humans by carrying the parasite rat lungworm, known to cause meningitis in humans.
Officials said as treatment begins, the FDACS will continue to use the same treatment methodology for this pest, which is a metaldehyde-based molluscicide (snail bait) and is approved for residential use.
According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture news release, the African land snail is one of the most damaging snails in the world because it consumes at least 500 types of plants and produces about 1,200 eggs in a single year.
It’s been eradicated twice in Florida within the past 50 years.
Click here to view the quarantine and treatment areas.
Inspectors, snail hunters and snail canines are expected to continue searching for the snails throughout Broward County for the next few weeks.
All publicly available information on giant African land snails and the current quarantine can be found at FDACS.gov/GALS.
Source: WPLG Local 10
