Deadly ‘kissing bug’ spreads throughout the United States
Apr 30, 2019, 9:25 AM
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have confirmed that the dangerous “kissing bug” is spreading throughout the United States.
Last week, the CDC confirmed that a Delaware girl was bitten on the face by the bug, which is typically found in the South. The critters, called triatomine bugs, can spread Chagas disease, which can be dangerous but hard to contract.
According to the CDC, the disease spreads when the bug “poops on or near a person while it is feeding on (their) blood, usually when the person is sleeping.”
The disease spreads “when poop is accidentally rubbed into the bite wound or into a mucous membrane (for example, the eye or mouth), and the parasite enters the body,” according to the CDC.
There have been reports of the bug in several Southern and Western states, including Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and EVEN COLORADO the CDC reports.
The Delaware girl’s case was reported in July 2018 when the family asked health officials to identify the insect that bit her on the face, Today.com reports. The bug reportedly bit her when she was watching television.
A California mom says she was also bitten by the bug but didn’t even feel it. A large bump appeared on her neck one day and she thought she was bitten by a spider or mosquito, according to Fox News. She didn’t realize until later that the deadly bug had bitten her. She went for testing and found that she had contracted Chagas.
