Florida Invaded By Giant African Land Snails

[Tim Kelly]

Before anyone decides to adopt one of these, I am seeing reports about apparently the same species in Texas being a vector for a meningitis type of disease.

It's actually called schistosomiasis;I don't know what the symptoms are but I recall someone wrote a horror novel about an epidemic of in Britain back in the 7os; one of those disaster/animal attack/plague novels that everyone was writing in the wake of "Jaws"....

[Fred588]

You may be talking about two very different diseases here. Schistomiasis is an intestal infection caused by a parasitic worm. The meningitis is caused by a different parasite, but both apparently ARE carried by this snail.

BTW" I have posted a follow up to this in the Studio 588 forum.

Before anyone decides to adopt one of these, I am seeing reports about apparently the same species in Texas being a vector for a meningitis type of disease.

It's actually called schistosomiasis;I don't know what the symptoms are but I recall someone wrote a horror novel about an epidemic of in Britain back in the 7os; one of those disaster/animal attack/plague novels that everyone was writing in the wake of "Jaws"....

[duuudeization]

The snails have the models cornered...backed up to a quicksand pit...a step back...another...the snails continue to charge (?) Until their heels touch muck...the girls must choose between being run over at a snails pace ( sorry ) or sink to their doom, with appropriate terror

[Mynock]

Somebody needs to shoot this zombie thread before it starts eating people.

[BogDog]

"Giant African snails? Where?"

"Wait! There's one now! Right behind that weird fella who claims he can talk to his pets."

[Chimerix]

Before anyone decides to adopt one of these, I am seeing reports about apparently the same species in Texas being a vector for a meningitis type of disease.

Did some reading on this.....they can carry Angiostrongylus cantonensis, or the "Rat Lungworm", which is a flat worm native to Southeast Asia and the Pacific area. It can give a human meningitis but it has to be ingested.......I wouldn't lick my hands after handling them.

No one licks their hands after handling snails. No, you know how you contract rat lungworm? Healthy living.

For reals.

Eating fresh organic leafy greens that haven't been washed quiiiiiiiite well enough. Delicious, delightful vegetables, free of pesticides, on which the snails have been playing. Living. Reproducing. Tiny, tiny offspring, barely large enough to be seen, adding an imperceptible crunch to your already-crispy kale.

This is why you don't catch me eating salads.

[Tim Kelly]

Well, one good thing is, at least we can outrun them, unless they're like the ones in the Guinness ad, the one with the snails that moved faster than greyhounds while a lot of guys were betting on them (I think it was shot in Brazil, does anyone have a tape of it?)