GIANT snails were reportedly found on the streets in Guangdong after Typhoon Wipha brought heavy rain. Gan Liqing, an expert from Longgang District’s center for disease control and prevention, said touching these snails could lead to infection due to the parasites living in them.

Some parents in Guangdong reported on WeChat that their kids had come down with a fever as high as 40 degrees Celsius after playing with these giant snails, according to a Chinese media outlet.

Gan said the giant snail is called Achatina fulica and is one of the 16 invasive alien species in China as well as a quarantine pest that is poisonous to vegetables and other farm goods.

Living in the wild, the snail has become a perfect place for angiostrogylus cantonensis, a parasitic nematode that causes diseases including tuberculosis, brain fever and encephalitis.

The snails are not edible, and considering that they have mucus on their bodies that contains many types of bacteria, it is suggested that residents, especially young children, avoid contact. Otherwise, they will likely suffer an allergic reaction, according to the report.

The correct way to deal with these snails when they are found in communities is to report the issue to the property management office, so they can call professionals to handle it.

When snails are found in homes, residents can “cover them with cooking salt and wait for them to die.”

(Wang Jingli)