Deadly ‘Kissing Bug’ Disease Chagas Has Spread in the U.S. — Here’s Where

Chagas disease, which is spread through an insect known as the “kissing bug,” has spread to 32 states in the U.S.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that the triatomine insect  — called the “kissing bug” because it bites people on the face — has been found in several southern U.S. states, and that hundreds of thousands of people could already be infected without knowing.

Human infections have been identified in eight states — Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee and California — according to a map on the CDC’s website. Cases of 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, per UCLA Health, that more than 300,000 people in the U.S. — including 45,000 people in Los Angeles County — could be affected with Chagas disease. However, fewer than 2% of those people know they carry the parasite transmitted by the “kissing bug.” 

Judith Currier, MD, chief of infectious diseases at UCLA Health, explained, “Most people living with Chagas disease are unaware of their diagnosis, often until it’s too late to have effective treatment.”

The disease spreads through triatomine insect bites, per UCLA Health. Once the insect bites people on their face, they defecate and deposit a parasite called T. cruzi onto the skin. When the bite begins to itch and people scratch it, the parasite then gets into the person’s bloodstream. 

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Infected people can experience common symptoms including fever, fatigue, body aches, headache, loss of appetite, diarrhea and vomiting. However, one of the key signs of the disease is particularly severe swelling of the eyelid, per UCLA Health.

“[Severe eyelid swelling is] almost a hallmark of acute Chagas infection,” said Shaun Yang, PhD, a professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

Those who are infected could also risk getting more chronic symptoms, which often affect a person’s cardiovascular system. Between 20% and 30% of people who contract Chagas disease could develop serious heart or digestive problems, risk getting an enlarged heart, colon or esophagus, or risk heart failure or cardiac arrest, per the CDC. 

The CDC recommended in its report that Chagas disease be classified as “endemic” in the U.S. The agency defines “endemic” as having a “constant presence and/or usual prevalence in a population within a specific geographic area.”

Chagas disease is currently considered endemic to Latin America.