Amazonian snails plague Chinese farms

Amazonian snails—a restaurant delicacy in China that has made at least 23 people sick—are now being blamed for withered crops on over 395,000 acres in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Farmers have reported an invasion of their paddy fields by Amazonian snails.

The summer’s typhoons created ideal conditions for the snails. Annoyed by their quick proliferation farmers are using pesticide to kill the snails, Xinhua news agency reported. Meanwhile, the Beijing Office of Food Safety has called for tighter supervision over aquatic products and safety inspection in supermarkets, shopping malls and restaurants. The office also warned people against eating raw fish, shrimp, snail, crab, frogs and snakes.

The large, black snails were a hot-selling aquatic product in big Chinese cities like Beijing. However, 23 people in the Chinese capital have fallen ill after being infected by eel worms found in Amazonian snails, according to the Beijing Health Bureau.

According to a researcher with the Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, each snail is host up to 6,000 parasites, which can harm the human nervous system, even causing facial paralysis .