• FluTrackers.com Inc. does not provide medical advice. Information on this web site is collected from various internet resources, and the FluTrackers board of directors makes no warranty to the safety, efficacy, correctness or completeness of the information posted on this site by any author or poster. The information collated here is for instructional and/or discussion purposes only and is NOT intended to diagnose or treat any disease, illness, or other medical condition. Every individual reader or poster should seek advice from their personal physician/healthcare practitioner before considering or using any interventions that are discussed on this website. By continuing to access this website you agree to consult your personal physican before using any interventions posted on this website, and you agree to hold harmless FluTrackers.com Inc., the board of directors, the members, and all authors and posters for any effects from use of any medication, supplement, vitamin or other substance, device, intervention, etc. mentioned in posts on this website, or other internet venues referenced in posts on this website.
  • We are not asking for any donations. Do not donate to any entity who says they are raising funds for us.

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

Shiloh

Shiloh

Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.npr.org/blogs/goatsandso...issing-bug-disease-in-texas-and-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...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
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.
Click to expand...

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
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top