Customs and Border Protection agents found 15 live snails, deemed one of the planet’s most invasive species and capable of spreading meningitis, in the luggage of a traveler who had arrived in Houston earlier this month.
The African Giant Land Snails were found in the suitcases of a Nigerian woman who landed at Houston’s George Bush International Airport. She originally declared only a quarter-pound of dried beef, but she later disclosed that she had the snails, according to a Wednesday release from CBP.
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“Our agriculture specialists remain vigilant in protecting the U.S. from foreign animal and plant disease that could threaten U.S. crop production and livestock industry or be transmitted to humans,” said Shawn Polley, Houston’s CBP port director.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture considers the snails one of the most invasive species on the planet, due largely to their hermaphroditic features and ability to lay about 1,200 eggs each year. Their diet consists of over 500 types of plants, including peanuts, cucumbers, and stucco on houses if no other food is available.
Now common in Florida and Hawaii, the snails were first introduced to the Sunshine State in 1966 when a Miami boy smuggled three snails home from a trip to Hawaii. His grandmother released the snails into her garden, and they multiplied to 18,000 within seven years.
They were eradicated 10 years and $1 million later, but they were reintroduced in 2011. They have been active ever since.
The snails can also host a parasite known as the rat lungworm that causes meningitis in humans, symptoms of which include headache, fever, and stiff neck. Some 2,800 cases of infection by the lungworm across 30 countries have been reported to the CDC.
After seizing the snails, CBP turned them over to the USDA for “final disposition.”
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“Three of the specimens were forwarded to our National Malacologist for Final Identification. The species were identified as Archachatina marginata (Swainson) (Achatinidae). Specimens of [Giant African Snails] are frozen, double-bagged and designated as quarantine waste for destruction,” the USDA told the Washington Examiner in an email.
