UTEP researchers find high level of infection in kissing bugs that transmit Chagas disease
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- UTEP researchers have found unusually high levels in the Borderland of parasitic infection in insects that transmit Chagas disease.
Chagas disease is spread by blood-feeding insects known as kissing bugs. About 6 million people worldwide suffer from the disease. The disease has a "chronic" phase that can last for decades without symptoms, but that can eventually lead to severe heart and gastrointestinal complications.
"The bugs were collected near homes and natural areas along the U.S.-Mexico border, raising concerns about the potential for local transmission of the disease in the Southwestern U.S.," a spokesperson for UTEP explained."
UTEP researchers collected the kissing bugs in El Paso County and southern New Mexico. They took them from yards, from under garden furniture and firewood, from the Franklin Mountains State Park, and the UTEP campus. 88.5% of the 26 kissing bugs collected tested positive for Trypanosoma cruzi, also known as T. cruzi. That is the parasite that causes Chagas disease. This represents a more than 20% increase in infection rate from 2021. The disease was formerly primarily confined to Latin America, according to the UTEP research team.
To avoid infection from kissing bugs, researchers recommend that homes be sealed properly, that pets be kept indoors as much as possible, that woodpiles be removed from the sides of houses, and that homeowners install insect screens on their windows.
