Miami (USA.)(UU.), 15 sep (EFE).-copies of giant African snail of Earth have been detected in Miami, which has made skip alarms, since that is one of the most damaging animals in the world, able to cause structural failures in buildings and even cause meningitis in human
The Department of agriculture and services to the consumer of the State of Florida confirmed today that it has positively identified a population of these molluscs in Miami-Dade County.
“The giant African land snail is one of the snails more harmful in the world because they consume at least 500 different types of plants, they can cause structural in plaster and stucco, damage and even carry a nematode parasite that can cause meningitis in humans,” he explained that agency.
This animal, called Achatina fulica, is one of the world’s largest land snails, grows to 20 centimeters long and more than ten of diameter.
Each copy, which can live nine years, contains male and female reproductive organs and a sunset can produce up to 400 eggs, so that in a normal year each one makes an average of 1,200 eggs.
The Achatina fulica is original in East Africa and it has been established along the Indo-Pacific, including the islands of Hawaii.
This scourge has also been introduced to the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe, with the recent detection in St. Lucia and Barbados.
“The latest outbreak detected and eradicated in Florida came in 1966, when a child brought three smuggling to Miami as pets”, explains the Florida Agriculture Department in a statement.
Shortly after “the grandmother of the child released the snails in your garden and seven years later there were more than 18,000 snails, a plague that cost eradicate ten years and more than one million dollars”.
“This is the only known case of eradication with success of giant African snail”, claim Florida authorities, calling for cooperation of citizens to detect other copies. EFE
