“The horntail snail is an invasive pest with the potential to cause serious health implications for Floridians,” Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried said in a prepared statement. “Our Division of Plant Industry and essential industry partners are continuing to monitor this threat and working towards a plan to stop the horntail snail’s spread into other areas of Florida.”
The department said horntail snails feed on a variety of crops, such as lettuce, beans and yams. It also said the snails can be an “intermediate host” of rat lung worm, which can cause meningitis in humans.
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This article appears in Best of the Bay 2020.