Chagas Disease

Chagas, also known as American trypanosomiasis, is an inflammatory disease from parasites that live in triatomine bug feces.

Although most patients experience only mild initial symptoms, those who aren't treated for Chagas disease can have severe complications even decades after exposure.

Who would ever think a tiny little creature known as the "kissing bug" could cause such havoc? While Chagas disease most often strikes children, anyone who lives in an area where it's prevalent is at risk.

Chagas disease is the 4th leading cause of death in South America and without control will only grow.

Blood donations in 34 states have tested positive for Chagas Disease, a potentially deadly parasitic infection, in the last 10 months, according to the American Association of Blood Banks.

Chagas Disease is an infection caused by the parasite Trypanosoma Cruzi. Chagas Disease was named after a Brazilian physician and infectologist Carlos Chagas, who first described the disease in 1909.

Chagas disease comes from a parasite transmitted through the feces of a blood-sucking insect, which is known as the kissing bug. The disease is endemic in rural areas from Mexico to Argentina.

Like something out of a Hollywood horror movie, a new threat is steadily spreading through America. Triatoma Rubida, better known as the kissing bug, is now a common sight, especially in the South and Southwest.

Reduviid bugs feed on your lips while you are asleep and can transmit deadly disease.