‘Kissing bug’ disease: Should you be worried?

[CherryPanda]

Everybody is no silent about the Ebola threat. Probably, because it’s not that scary as we thought, especially, when you have all modern medicine at your service. But here comes something new – Chagas disease. Just look at the numbers: there are more people infected in the world than there are infected with Ebola, and there are more infected in US than Ebola even has a chance to infect. What’s more – you can hardly detect or treat this crap. Don’t you think we need to be more worried about Chagas? Especially, in the context of thousands of illegals coming to the country…

Researchers at the annual gathering of tropical medicine experts on Tuesday warned of a deadly disease from abroad that is threatening the health of more and more Americans. They weren't talking about Ebola, but Chagas, the "kissing bug" disease.
Called a silent killer because it's often hard to diagnose in the early stages, Chagas is a parasitic infection that can lead to serious cardiac and intestinal complications and even death. It typically spreads through blood-sucking "kissing" bugs that bite on people's faces during the night and is estimated to affect 7 to 8 million people worldwide. The disease can also be spread from blood transfusions, organ transplants and congenital transfer from mother to child, according to the CDC.
... During a presentation at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene meeting in New Orleans, epidemiologist Melissa Nolan Garcia said her team had been following 17 Houston-area residents who had been infected. At least six of them appeared to have been infected locally as they had had insignificant travel outside the United States. Most of the patients spent a lot of time outdoors or lived in rural areas where the bugs are thought to live. The Baylor group also collected 40 kissing bugs near homes in 11 central-southern Texas counties and found that half had fed on human blood as well as that of a dozen kinds of animals ranging from dogs to raccoons.

8216 Kissing bug 8217 disease Should you be worried - The Washington Post

 

[Katzndogz]

I only kiss my dog. No. I'm not worried.

 

[CherryPanda]

I only kiss my dog. No. I'm not worried.

Well, you see, according to the article, dogs can be the transmitters of this bugs... So you should be careful with you dog. Don't kiss it until it takes shower. And also ask it if it has recently travelled to South America or contacted immigrants.