Chagas disease, also known by the deceptively friendly name "kissing bug" disease, has become endemic in the United States, according to The Washington Post.
What's happening?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention addressed Chagas disease in the September edition of their peer-reviewed, monthly Emerging Infectious Diseases bulletin.
"Chagas disease, caused by Trypanosoma cruzi parasites, is considered endemic to 21 countries in the Americas, excluding the United States," the journal's abstract began. However, CDC researchers added that Chagas disease had in fact become endemic in the U.S. as well.
A disease is considered endemic when it has a "constant presence" in a specific population or geographic region. In this instance, the CDC argued that Chagas disease is "hypoendemic" at the very least, or consistently present at a low level.
According to the article, autochthonous cases — infections acquired locally, rather than those contracted abroad — had been diagnosed in eight states, with Texas chief among them.
Chagas disease is a vector-borne illness, meaning it is transmitted to humans by insects and other creatures such as ticks, which are technically arachnids. Mosquitoes are common vectors for diseases like malaria, but Chagas disease is transmitted to humans through the feces of infected triatomine insects, also known as "kissing bugs."
A CDC review of published medical literature on Chagas disease in the United States uncovered dozens of confirmed or suspected cases of locally acquired infections between 2000 and 2018. A closer look at "shared risk factors" revealed a pattern of outdoor activity in the ill.
Why is the spread of Chagas disease concerning?
For starters, a public health expert told the Post that "kissing bug disease" is far more serious than its colloquial name implies.
Chagas disease is "often fatal by the time symptoms develop," San Diego State University School of Public Health assistant professor Paula Stigler Granados told the paper. Coupled with the CDC's observation that the medical community's awareness of locally acquired infections was "low," Americans at risk might remain in the dark about the danger.
Vector-borne illnesses such as Chagas disease rarely, if ever, move into new regions unprompted. When pathogens spread by insects emerge in new places, a changing climate is typically the primary factor.
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Yes — often 😬 In October 2024, The Lancet Microbe published a study about the spread of Chagas disease to new areas, warning that warmer temperatures would mean novel "geographical areas and populations could be placed at risk" for contracting the disease.
What can be done about it?
Promising research published in 2024 suggested that genetic modification of "kissing bugs" could ultimately aid in the eradication of Chagas disease.
In the meantime, public health experts consistently asserted that surveillance and reporting of new and suspected Chagas disease cases were a critical step in protecting Americans.
"If you don't look, you don't find — and that's been a big problem," tropical disease expert and pediatrician Dr. Peter Hotez told the Post.
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