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Well|What to Know About the ‘Kissing Bug’ Disease
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/15/well/kissing-bug-chagas-disease.html
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Though some researchers believe it should be labeled endemic in the United States, most Americans don’t need to worry about getting sick.
Sept. 15, 2025, 5:27 p.m. ET
Perhaps you’ve seen the “kissing bug” disease all over the internet in the past few weeks — and the images of the culprit, a dark, penny-sized insect with orange and red markings along its sides.
Formally called Chagas disease, kissing bug disease is endemic in 21 countries across Latin America. Though it’s nothing new (kissing bugs have been around for thousands of years), the disease is sparking interest and concern stateside: In a paper published this month in the Emerging Infectious Diseases journal, public health experts argued that Chagas disease should be considered endemic in the United States.
The researchers pointed to the widespread presence of kissing bugs and infected animals in the country, as well as the steady stream of local human cases in Texas between 2013 and 2023. Cases aren’t necessarily increasing, but the researchers argued that an ongoing local presence of Chagas warranted the disease being categorized as endemic, which can help increase its awareness.
Triatomine bugs — kissing bugs — are bloodsucking insects that tend to bite people’s faces, hence their macabre nickname. About half carry a parasite that causes Chagas disease, which is passed when the insects defecate. Scratching the bite or rubbing your eyes can push the infected fecal material inside your body.
When you’re infected with Chagas, you’re generally infected for life, though most people with the disease are free of symptoms and may never even know they have it. That’s why Chagas disease is rarely caught in its early stages, when it is curable, although treatment can still halt or slow down the progression of the disease later on. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 20 to 30 percent of those infected can develop serious issues, including heart failure.
But the risk of getting Chagas disease in the United States is extremely low.
“Most Americans should not be worried at all,” said Dr. Caryn Bern, an epidemiologist at the University of California San Francisco who researches parasitic diseases.
