United States: For quite some time, a new disease vector known as the ‘kissing bug’ has been researched by a team of researchers, and the first ever such an insect was found to have brought the disease into a residential setting in Delaware.
More about the news
The bug is familiar scientifically as Triatoma sanguisuga and was discovered in the house, but furthermore, the bug was confirmed to contain Trypanosoma cruzi, the pathogen of Chagas disease.
This research published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene raises some questions regarding the lack of public health knowledge and/or action concerning the issue in the Northeast of the United States.
Know more about Chagas disease
In fact, Chagas disease is not common in the US, but there are several million people contaminated and with symptoms in Latin America, and WHO included Chagas in the neglected tropical diseases.
If the disease is not treated, there are several comorbidities that are prone to develop such as those concerning heart and digestion. Although cases of domestic transmission of Chagas disease are few and far between in the United States, this find indicates that the danger might not be as low as people think, mainly because there could be districts where people are ignorant of the existence of the kissing bug, as studyfinds.org reported.
More about the current case
The case was developed in New Castle County, the Northern part of Delaware, and the most populated area according to the census.
The report revealed that the homeowner found two live adult male kissing bugs on the pillow in a homeowner’s bedroom in July 2023 and another one found in the kitchen in the same year, October.
This sparked months for the homeowner, who couldn’t get the correct information about both the bugs and herself.
What is particularly striking in this case is that one of the bugs was found to be positive for Trypanosoma cruzi. It is the initial documented case of an infected kissing bug in Delaware and prompts novel questions concerning the scope of the parasitic burden in the regional fauna and the associated threats to public health.
The UD assistant professor and medical entomologist, Jennifer Peterson, said, “It’s not surprising that it was infected,” and, “It’s more of a wake-up call that this bug needs to be studied.”
Peterson also warned that “If there is not enough food in the forest and a kissing bug sees some twinkling lights coming from someone’s house, it’s going to fly in and see if there is a meal,” as studyfinds.org reported.