One health official says the latest challenge in the fight against the giant african snail is persons promoting it as a source of meat.

Speaking today during a sitting of Parliament’s Joint Select Committee on Land & Physical Infrastructure, was Simone Moses, who works as a Public Health Inspector with the San Juan/Laventille Regional Corporation.

She says videos have been popping up on social media.

The Agriculture Ministry has long warned against eating the snail, since it is a vector for the rat lung worm which can cause meningitis.

Also speaking today was Rishi Mohansingh, an agricultural entomologist with the Agriculture Ministry, who said data up to 2023 shows that Caroni is the county most infested with snails.

Locust infestations in south were also a point of focus.

Mr Mohansingh said efforts will be made to target them at their source.

It was also explained that natural predators cannot always be relied on to control the snail and locust populations.

For one, the populations of both are too large for natural predators to bring them under control.

There is also a risk in introducing other predators, since these can also eventually become invasive.