What viruses do African snails carry?

The body of the African giant snail contains many parasites and bacteria that can cause viral infections, and infected people can develop serious diseases such as tuberculosis and eosinophilic meningitis. Eating them is extremely harmful.

The viruses of the African giant snail are mainly transmitted to humans through being eaten. Usually it is eaten raw or cooked medium-rare, so the pathogens and parasites in its body are not killed by the heat; once eaten, humans can develop encephalitis. Some restaurants cook it thoroughly, and people who like to try fresh things and enjoy this taste can still eat it.

The African giant snail is native to Africa, and the movement of goods and human carrying are the ways it invades. This snail is hermaphroditic and has strong reproductive capacity, laying eggs 4 times a year, with 150~300 eggs each time. It is a major pest of crops, and when hungry it also eats paper and the corpses of its companions, and can even gnaw on and digest gypsum and plaster.

This exotic organism identified as the African giant snail feeds aggressively and reproduces strongly, can harm more than 500 kinds of crops, is known as the “killer of the countryside”, and has been listed by our country as one of the first batch of invasive alien species.