NationNews.com published a "Snail Alert" this week, warning the citizens of Barbados that they need to be more vigilant about ridding the island of the giant African land snail (Achatina fulica). A government scientist has spoken out about the snail, noting that if Barbadians leave it up to the Ministry of Agriculture, they could be in for a future of abandoned farmland and rat lung worms (Angiostrongylus cantonensis). While the snails in Barbados have so far been free of the parasitic lung worms, which can attack humans, worm infested giant African land snails are already known on several Caribbean islands, meaning the arrival of this secondary hitchhiker is likely unavoidable.
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