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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
‘Kissing bug’ disease is here to stay in the US, experts say.
Here’s why it’s spreading
By Jen Christensen, CNN
Updated:
6:00 AM EDT, Tue September 16, 2025
Source: CNN
Chagas disease, a potentially deadly condition caused by a parasite
carried by insects called kissing bugs, should now be considered
endemic in the United States, experts say – and without recognition
that it’s a constant presence in some parts of the country, more
people will suffer unnecessarily.
on the topic was published last week in the US Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention’s journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, and
the authors say they hope that growing global attention on the new
paper means Chagas could finally get the surveillance, prevention and
testing efforts and research funding it deserves in the United States.
“We’ve been waiting forever; all of us Chagas people have been
waiting for people to recognize this disease is in our communities,”
said Dr. Norman Beatty, coauthor of the report and at the University of
Florida College of Medicine’s Division of Infectious Diseases &
Global Medicine who has studied Chagas for the past decade.
The considers Chagas a , and says it is endemic – with a constant
presence or usual prevalence – in 21 other countries in the Americas,
not including the United States. Chagas is one of the leading causes of
heart disease in Latin America, and it causes more disability than
other insect-borne infections, even more than malaria and Zika, .
Chagas largely spreads when triatomine bugs, commonly known as kissing
bugs, bite a human while they’re sleeping. The bug defecates in that
bite or on a person’s face, and the person unwittingly wipes the
feces into their eyes, nose or mouth. The feces can carry a parasite,
Trypanosoma cruzi, that causes the disease.
Chagas through contaminated food or blood, organ transplants and
pregnancy.
Early symptoms can include fever, body aches, headaches, rash, vomiting
and tiredness. They may last weeks or even months after initial
infection.
According to the CDC, about 20% to 30% of people who’ve been
infected develop more serious problems like long-term digestive and
nervous system conditions, , stroke or death.
If it’s caught early, the disease can be cured with benznidazole or
nifurtimox, medicines that kill the parasite. But the drugs become less
effective the longer a person has been infected, and most people remain
unaware of the disease. Many doctors don’t think to look for it in
patients in the US, the new report noted.
In fact, some people who are infected find out some time later, when
they donate blood, since the US has been testing its blood supply for
Chagas since 2007.
Surveillance is limited, but that about 280,000 people in the US have
Chagas at any given time. It’s unclear how many have the more serious
form of the disease or how many deaths are caused by Chagas each year.
Scientists have found kissing bugs in 32 states, the new report says.
The blood-sucking insect mostly lives in warmer Southern states, but
with climate change causing more bug-friendly temperatures, there’s a
good chance they have spread farther.
Scientistst have identified at least 17 states with infected mammals,
including Virginia opossums, raccoons, banded armadillos, striped
skunks, coyotes and wood rats, according to the latest report.
Veterinarians have seen infections in zoo animals and pets, including
cats, dogs and a horse.
Doctors have reported Chagas cases in humans in eight states: Arkansas,
Arizona, California, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Tennessee and
Texas. There are probably more cases, the new report says, but doctors
are not required to report Chagas infections in most states.
It would be “momentous” for Chagas to be declared endemic in the
US, said Dr. Mario J. Grijalva, director of the Infectious and Tropical
Disease Institute and professor in the Department of Biomedical
Sciences at Ohio University.
“When you consider it a problem that belongs to others, it’s not
important. But when it’s a problem affecting people here, the
recognition that it is an endemic disease in the United States is a
game-changer, at least in terms of the public policy possibilities and
the awareness that is required to properly address this complicated
issue,” he said.
Grijalva knows firsthand what a difference it can make to have
awareness and a concerted health campaign. He spent his recent
sabbatical riding a motorcycle across Latin America to spread the word
about the condition, after making a .
In countries like Ecuador and Peru where Chagas is endemic but there is
no concerted government efforts to manage it, most people were unaware
of the disease, Grijalva said. But in Chile, Bolivia and Argentina -
all countries with robust health and public awareness campaigns – the
people he spoke with knew about Chagas, and many cases were being
well-managed.
“There has been a lot of effort to fight this in those countries,”
Grijalva said. “It can be fought, and there are a lot of
successes.”
Beatty hopes broader recognition of Chagas in the US will prompt
officials to step up surveillance efforts like what he’s seen in some
other countries. He also hopes health care providers learn to recognize
cases sooner and wishes the US would work to protect people from
kissing bugs like it does mosquitoes.
“We have mosquito control programs around the country, but we’re
essentially doing nothing about kissing bugs,” he said.
In the meantime, he said, people aiming to keep the insects away can
better seal their homes, use window screens and spray for bugs.
However, he has not found any particular spray specifically approved to
target kissing bugs in the US.
And in Florida, where he works and where about 30% of kissing bugs
seem to be positive for the parasites, Beatty said, people will often
send him bug photos or even drop the insects off at his hospital to be
tested.
“They’re scared,” he said – and they have a right to be.
Beatty said he tries to help his community as best he can. “There’s
not another doctor around here walking around with bugs in their
pockets,” he said. But with more awareness, he hopes others will step
up as well.
“I’m just one person,” Beatty said. “It’s a small team, and
we have limited resources.”
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