Kissing Bugs with Trypanosoma cruzi in Arizona

Forty-two percent of triatomine insects collected in and around homes in Tucson were infected with this parasite.

Chagas disease is endemic in many parts of Latin America, and sporadic cases have been documented stemming from transmission in the southern U.S. Triatomine insects (“kissing bugs”) — vectors of the parasite that causes Chagas disease — are plentiful in southern Arizona. How often are they infected with this agent?

Between mid-May and mid-December 2006, researchers collected kissing bugs in and around homes in the Tucson area, where reported triatomine–human contacts are the highest in the nation. They used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to test for the presence of Trypanosoma cruzi. Sixty-one percent of the insects were caught in late May or early June. Overall, 68 of the 164 insects collected (42%) were infected with T. cruzi. Infected in…

Reviewing Author

Mary E. Wilson, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardOneHealthTrust (formerly Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics, and Policy); Global Health Institute, University of Wisconsin

RoyaltiesUpToDate

Editorial BoardsJournal of Travel Medicine

Mary E. Wilson, MD

Disclosures

Consultant/Advisory BoardOneHealthTrust (formerly Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics, and Policy); Global Health Institute, University of Wisconsin

RoyaltiesUpToDate

Editorial BoardsJournal of Travel Medicine