Giant African Snail:
Experts warned that the Giant African Snail’s (Lissachatina fulica) presence poses serious risks to Chennai city residents.
- Giant African Snail is the common name for several large African land snail species. The most damaging of these pests is Lissachatina fulica.
- It is one of the world’s worst invasive species.
- It is known to eat more than 500 types of crops and ornamental plants.
- It is native to East Africa but it has been widely introduced to other parts of the world through the pet trade, as a food resource, and by accidental introduction.
- It thrives in warm tropical climates with mild temperatures all year round and high humidity.
- It is found in agricultural areas, coastal areas and wetlands, natural and planted forests, riparian zones, scrublands and shrublands, and the urban zones.
- It is a threat to animals and people because it can transmit parasites such as rat lungworm and other diseases.
- The recent study warned that the snail is a vector for parasitic nematodes such as Angiostrongylus cantonensis and costaricensis, which cause eosinophilic meningoencephalitis (brain infection) and abdominal angiostrongyliasis in humans.
- These infections often spread through ingestion of contaminated gastropods or their residues.
