Invasive snails prompt quarantines in South Florida.
A quarantine zone has been issued for parts of Broward County in South Florida after an invasive species of giant African land snails was spotted. The snails can grow up to eight inches long and are known to be destructive to plants, posing a risk to the state's nearly $8 billion agriculture industry. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is using a type of snail bait to eradicate the species, which can also pose a health risk to humans and lead to meningitis. The last sighting in Florida was in 2022, and eradication efforts from a population spike during the 1960s took at least a decade to complete and cost more than $1 million.