LOS ANGELES - Health officials are sounding the alarm on Chagas disease, a potentially deadly condition transmitted by an insect known as the "kissing bug".
It is now considered an endemic in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and UCLA Health.
What we know:
Health experts believe about 45,000 people in Los Angeles County are already infected and more than 300,000 people in the United States are infected. According to UCLA Health, fewer than 2% of those infected know they carry the parasite spread by the "kissing bug."
The insect is known as the "kissing bug" because it bites people on the face and sucks their blood. Experts say after they bite, they defecate, which deposits the parasite they carry, known as T. cruzi, onto the skin.
After a person is bitten, they inadvertently scratch and rub the parasite into the wound, which is how it enters the bloodstream, explained Shaun Yang, PhD, a professor of clinical microbiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He said left untreated, Chagas disease slowly kills the heart.
The disease is already considered an endemic in Latin America, where an estimated 8 million people are reportedly infected, according to the CDC.
UCLA Health calls Chagas disease a silent disease as most people are unaware they have it. They said those infected are asymptomatic throughout its acute and chronic phases.
During the acute phase, which occurs in the first weeks or months after getting infected, people can experience severe eyelid swelling, fever, fatigue, body aches, headache, loss of appetite, diarrhea and vomiting.
During the chronic phase, which experts say can last a lifetime, about 20 to 30% of those infected can develop serious heart or digestive problems. Chagas disease can cause an enlarged heart, heart failure or cardiac arrest, an enlarged colon, or an enlarged esophagus.
Some symptoms can be managed with cardiac medication to treat heart failure, while others may need a heart transplant, UCLA Health said. However, they say anti-parasite medications are only effective during the acute phase or recurrence after a transplant.
Chagas disease can spread through:
According to the CDC, Chagas disease does not spread from person-to-person.
Dr. Yang said people who recently traveled to Mexico, Central America or South America and start experiencing heart problems should be tested for Chagas disease,
He advises people visiting rural areas in Latin America to sleep under a net to protect against bug bites.
Kissing bugs can also be found in the US. Health experts say the insects found in Los Angeles are unlikely to carry the parasite that causes Chagas disease. However, in Texas, tests confirmed that the insects found there do carry the T. cruzi parasite. In Latin America, almost all kissing bugs carry the parasite.
According to UCLA Health, kissing bugs are most often found in homes made of mud or adobe. They like to live in cracks in walls or in areas where there are pets or rodents. The bugs also bite rodents, dogs and cats, but Dr. Yang said they prefer to bite humans.