A warning has just been issued by the Centers for Disease, Control and Prevention about the latest health scare – a bug called triatomine, or commonly referred to as the “kissing” bug. According to CDC, it can even kill a human.
This kissing bug might seem completely friendly, but it has been known to transmit a parasite named Trypanosoma cruzi. This parasite becomes extremely deadly once it enters the body, it is the cause of Chagas disease and has affected the lives of 8 million people around the world.
Chagas disease can cause horrible hearts problem and can lead to death. The symptoms don’t start right away, they start not until two months later from the time the body was in contact with the bug. The symptoms include fever, headaches, enlarged lymph glands, muscle pain, and hard time breathing. These symptoms are similar to a flu making it hard to see find the cause at first.
Once the symptoms start occurring the person will also have skin lesions or swelling on the eyelids. 10% of the people who have been diagnosed have stated to have digestion problems, and 30% develop cardiac problems. At the moment there are no immunizations for this disease; but if this disease is caught early treatment is 100% effective.
Deadly “kissing” bug
Make sure to protect your family by using insecticide spray around your home and be sure to keep up with personnel hygiene. If the host rubs the bite, there’s a higher risk of the disease being spread as the bug normally defecates into the bite, and the fecal matter infects the bite with the deadly parasite.
The northern regions are the only area of the United States which isn’t at risk, including New England and New York State.
Reference:
http://kissingbug.tamu.edu/FAQ/
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