African giant snails are delicious, yet they are still seized and not allowed to stay in the United States

Original title: African giant snails are a big danger to crops; the U.S. Department of Agriculture declares war on them

According to foreign media reports, African giant snails can damage buildings, eat crops, and even infect people with meningitis. Even so, some people still want to catch African giant snails, and even serve them as a delicacy on their plates.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is trying to stop the buying and selling of African giant snails. Since June, the Department of Agriculture has seized more than 1,200 live African giant snails, and their "owners" were all the same person. This person is from Georgia and is suspected of illegally selling African giant snails.

At the end of June, the Department of Agriculture found clues on social media and traced them to a person in Long Island, New York, who owned more than 200 snails, and identified that these snails were bought from the seller in Georgia.

After questioning this seller, the Department of Agriculture seized nearly 1,000 snails in Georgia, and also found one each in Indiana, Pennsylvania and New York State.

The authorities said that seizing African giant snails brooks no delay, because African giant snails reproduce quickly and can produce 1,200 or even more offspring in a year. African giant snails can grow to be as big as a fist, and in the United States they have no other natural enemies besides humans.

The authorities said that eating or touching African giant snails may threaten health. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), this kind of snail may carry parasites that can cause meningitis.