Dogs Carry 'Kissing Bug' Disease In Texas And Latin America

[Shiloh]

Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/goatsandsod...-latin-america


Dogs Carry 'Kissing Bug' Disease In Texas And Latin America
by Michaeleen Doucleff
July 16, 2014 3:56 PM ET

We often think about people spreading diseases around the world. This spring vacationers brought Chikungunya from the Caribbean to the U.S. Businessmen have likely spread Ebola across international borders in West Africa. And health care workers have carried a new virus from the Middle East to Asia and Europe.

But what about (wo)man's best friend?

From shelter mutts to purebred show dogs, canines across the state of Texas are becoming infected with a parasite that causes a potentially deadly disease in people, scientists report Wednesday in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases...

[Emily]

Re: Dogs Carry 'Kissing Bug' Disease In Texas And Latin America

The bugs actually spread the disease. I think that is why the author corrected the title.

So for a person to catch Chagas from their pooch, a kissing bug would have to bite the dog and then its owner right after the dog gets infected. "We don't have kissing bugs in our homes," Hamer says, "so the chance of that happening is small."

That's not the case in South and Central America. In many poor communities, kissing bugs live in the roofs of thatched and mud homes.

The chance of a bug spreading disease would be zero if there are no bugs in the home. Also the study referenced says cats carry the disease, but the NPR article author never mentions that.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8465382

[wdcare]

Re: Dogs Carry 'Kissing Bug' Disease In Texas And Latin America

http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/chagas/gen_info/vectors/triatomine_stages_lg.html

This image shows the size of the bug. Ugh.