DPH and DDA jointly contacted Texas A&M University's Kissing Bug Citizen Science Program, a multidisciplinary research program aimed at documenting and collecting kissing bugs from across the United States.* The insect was identified based on a photograph as Triatoma sanguisuga, a vector that can transmit the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi which causes
Chagas disease (1,2).
Classified as one of the 17 neglected tropical diseases listed by the World Health Organization (WHO) (1),
Chagas disease is transmitted by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi (2) and, in Latin America, is the endemic disease with the greatest impact on morbimortality in a group of 21 countries, where it is estimated that it affects 5-6 million people, of whom less than 1% receive treatment and approximately 7,000 cases result into death annually (1).
In Latin America,
Chagas disease is prevalent in 21 countries and is one of the most worrisome public health problems on the subcontinent.
The unseen travelers also include measles,
Chagas disease, hepatitis, and many other dangerous microbes.
Entoepidemiology of
Chagas disease in the Western region of the State of Sao Paulo from 2004 to 2008, and cytogenetic analysis in Rhodnius neglectus (Hemiptera, Triatominae).
In this context,
Chagas disease emerges as one of these concerns, notably in the Brazilian territory (7).