Bug, reduviid

The insect that carries and transmits the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi that is the cause of Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis). The bug is also called the kissing bug because it appears to "kiss" people, especially babies, on the lips while they are asleep. The bug lives in cracks and holes of substandard housing in South and Central America. The bug becomes infected after biting an animal or person who already has Chagas disease. The infection is spread to people when an infected bug deposits feces on a person’s skin, usually while the person is sleeping at night. The person often accidently rubs the feces into the bite wound, an open cut, the eyes, or mouth. Animals can become infected the same way, and they can also contract the disease by eating an infected bug. The parasite can also be transmitted by blood transfusion and it can cross the placenta during pregnancy to infect the fetus. It is estimated that 20 million people in the Americas have Chagas disease and that 50,000 die each year from it.