The deadly “kissing bug” disease that Chagas has spread to the United States – here is where

Chagas disease, which is spread through an insect known as “kissing”, spread to 32 states in the United States

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that the triatomin insect – called “kissing” because it bites people on the face – has been found in several southern United States, and hundreds of thousands of people could already be infected without knowing it.

Human infections have been identified in eight states – Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee and California – according to a card on the CDC website. CHAGAS disease in animals have also been found in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, Virginia and Maryland.

The CDC said, according to UCLA Health, that more than 300,000 people in the United States – including 45,000 people in the County of Los Angeles – could be affected by Chagas disease. However, less than 2% of these people know that they carry the parasite transmitted by the “kiss of the bug”.

Judith Currier, MD, head of infectious diseases of the UCLA Health, explained: “Most people living with Chagas disease ignore their diagnosis, often until it is too late to have effective treatment.”

The disease spreads through triatomin insect bites, by UCLA health. Once the insect bites people on their faces, they defy and defeat a parasite called T. Cruzi on the skin. When the bite begins to itch and people scratch it, the parasite then enters the blood circulation of the person.

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Infected people may experience current symptoms, including fever, fatigue, body pain, headache, loss of appetite, diarrhea and vomiting. However, one of the key signs of the disease is a particularly serious swelling of the eyelid, by UCLA health.

“”[Severe eyelid swelling is] Almost a characteristic of an acute chagas infection, “said Shaun Yang, PHD, professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine of the UCLA.

Those who are infected could also risk finding more chronic symptoms, which often affects a person’s cardiovascular system. Between 20% and 30% of people who contract Chagas’ disease could develop serious heart or digestive problems, may obtain a wider heart, colon or esophagus, or risk heart failure or cardiac arrest, according to the CDC.

The CDC recommended in its report that Chagas’ disease is classified as “endemic” in the United States, the agency defines “endemic” as having a “constant presence and / or the usual prevalence in a population in a specific geographic area”.

Chagas’ disease is currently considered endemic to Latin America.