Dangerous Kissing Bug Reported In Florida, Says CDC

As it turns out, California is one of many states the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the blood-suckers, also known as “kissing bugs”, can be found. Other states include Georgia, Florida, Alabama and Louisiana, according to a CDC map of triatomine occurrence in the United States.

Contracting Chagas disease from a kissing bug is not easy to do – The CDC notes that “not all triatomine bugs are infected with the parasite that causes Chagas disease”.

The insect, known as the Triatomine bug, is only about an inch long but carries the Chagas disease and can pass along the parasite through bites.

The bug has been linked to killing about 10,000 people a year in the United States.

Once introduced into the body, the parasite can remain dormant for years or even decades before eventually causing symptoms including fatigue, fever, rash and headaches.

If Californians or anyone else should stumble across the bug, the CDC recommends not stepping on them; instead, one should trap the bug in a container and fill it with rubbing alcohol, or, in the absence of alcohol, freeze the bug and take it to a local extension service or university health department.

The name “kissing bug” was given to the triatomine because of the way the insect bites, usually around the mouth and face while the person is sleeping. The bug, which feeds on the blood of animals and, sometimes, humans, defecates as it feeds on of near the animal or person. Transmission only occurs when the insect’s faeces is rubbed into a break in the skin or comes into contact with the eye.

The CDC does say that it’s rare for a human to get the disease from a kissing bug.

It is believed most of these people were infected in Latin America, which has more than 8 million reported cases. In rural Central and South America, the bugs are often found in the walls of homes made from mud, adobe or straw.

Since it’s very hard to determine when a person became infected, most people in the USA with the disease were likely infected before arriving in the country, Schaffner suggests.

The bugs should not be touched – The CDC asks people to “not touch or squash” bugs they find.

The bug is nocturnal and is typically found outdoors, but often hides under beds and mattresses.