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Yes, That was my understanding concerning the feeding habits of most endogenous triatomas living in the US. Keep in mind though that there are many species of the genus triatoma. What I wasn't sure of is the global warming situations and the environmental migration shifts of species due to climate changes.
The other aspect to that is that Chagas disease does infect other small animals in the US such as pack rats and raccoons and others which makes it endemic in the US in that population. On rare occasion humans have come down with it out of the blue.
This MMWR from the CDC covers an alert to the public health sector about the possibility of locally acquired Chagas disease.
There are 11 species of Triatoma in the (mostly southern half) US but apparently most rarely defecate while feeding. Yay for that! I think only a few of these are important vectors of Chagas but I am not an expert on them. I do know that development in the SW is increasing human exposure to at least one, Triatoma rubida, which is attracted to lights so we are likely to see more disease in the SW.
I believe that the most common vectors in northern Mexico that could move further north with climate change are already in the US, with T. gerstaeckeri currently beingrestricted to southern TX and NM, It generally does not crawl onto its host to feed, and coupled with the fact that it doesn't usually defecate while feeding makes it a lower risk. Triatoma sanguisuga is native to much of the eastern US already, north to New Hampshire, but has similar bathroom habits.
Overlooked perhaps because it was hardly ever a problem in US. Look, new victims.
Socioeconomic status impacts health outcomes in a variety of ways. It is often mentioned as a "risk" factor and leave it to others in the non-healthcare community to view it as "victims".
The MMWR letter to all healthcare professionals sent out by the CDC does two things, it states a problem so doctors won't miss it and it gives facts concerning how to identify it, transmission and risk factors. The CDC is always looking for "victims" to report on. That is their whole role, to seek victims of illness and not play politics.
People who don't have a lot of money will usually have poor housing that makes them susceptible to rodents, vermin and arthropod borne disease. That is a risk factor. Newly arrived latinos are at risk to be having the parasite and some do not speak English and so there is a language barrier there which also makes for poor outcomes as most doctors are not bilingual. One needs to spend more time in order to assess the problem.
The role of public health institutions and doctors is to treat disease.
They don't warn about Chagas because the risk of contracting it in the US is low. The species that carry it in the US don't defecate while feeding, and rubbing the feces into the bite wound or mucous membranes is how you contract it. Plus even poor immigrant families have housing that is usually much better than the substandard housing they may have had in their native country, and which fosters kissing bug populations.
The awareness that is needed is for any doctors treating immigrants.
I know you just mean to be funny but with rampant fear and lack of understanding about insects and giant Asian hornets what is really needed is understanding and not sensationalizing or exaggerating the risk. People reading about Chagas are likely to go around smashing every insect that looks remotely like a kissing bug which will only perpetuate the problem.
This^^^^
I'm a retired entomologist, and the sensationalism about insects and the exaggeration of the dangers they pose has been a lifelong frustration for me. Every few years there's a new scare story about some insect or other that the vast majority of people are never going to come into contact with, let alone be injured by, and the media take off like a startled flock of birds with it.
I'm a retired entomologist, and the sensationalism about insects and the exaggeration of the dangers they pose has been a lifelong frustration for me. Every few years there's a new scare story about some insect or other that the vast majority of people are never going to come into contact with, let alone be injured by, and the media take off like a startled flock of birds with it.
It is different for the general public than for us in the medical field. We don't ever see tsetse flies around here but we did have a case of sleeping sickness African Trypanosomiasis in our hospital chain that needed to be identified under a microscope and there weren't many and could have been easily missed. The patient was neurologically compromised and decompensating rapidly. The CDC had to be consulted after the diagnosis for the proper treatment.
We have had malaria cases where the doctor wasn't aware of the it that I identified as a double infection with P falciparum and P vivax.
I did not get a chance to see Ehrlichia tick borne parasites. Never got to see a real elephantiasis or eye worm microfilaria. I can't say I haven't tried with patients and requests. Just getting them to draw blood at the right time is a problem.
The MMWR is to keep doctors alert as to what is going on.
The sensationalism can be bad as stated and as we learned with tick borne disease it took off to where everybody was claiming that everybody and their mother had either lyme disease or Ehrlichiosis or other.
I've had to deal with it from a diagnostic point of view so it is real to me even though the public has no clue about it. There are doctors requests and we are tested for it with actual unknown slides sent to us by agencies.
I know that you are trying for levity but the Asian Giant Hornet is a real threat. Another nest has been found and eradicated east of Blaine, WA near the Canadian border: https://komonews.com/news/local/stat...e-it-next-week
A friend of ours has his honey bee hives on our property and is very watchful of these invaders. He has traps and a network of other beekeepers who monitor the situation. These hornets can kill off entire hives thus endangering our food supply. We live about 20 miles south of the Canadian border but several hornets were discovered about 5-10 miles away last year. This is serious.
I know that you are trying for levity but the Asian Giant Hornet is a real threat. Another nest has been found and eradicated east of Blaine, WA near the Canadian border: https://komonews.com/news/local/stat...e-it-next-week
A friend of ours has his honey bee hives on our property and is very watchful of these invaders. He has traps and a network of other beekeepers who monitor the situation. These hornets can kill off entire hives thus endangering our food supply. We live about 20 miles south of the Canadian border but several hornets were discovered about 5-10 miles away last year. This is serious.
It is definitely a real risk to bees that needs to be contained. So far that risk seems to be low, and limited to NW WA and SW BC. Lets hope it stays that way.
But the panicked frenzy set off by the media's sensationalizing the stupid name someone gave it is real. Hysterical people all over the country were making false reports, wasting a lot of time for people who had to debunk them. That stupid name is 9/10 of the reason.
Repeat after me: Asian giant hornet. Asian giant hornet.
..continues to be overlooked in the U.S., as it disproportionately affects poor Hispanic communities.
Why is this?
Why are kissing bugs prevalent in poor Hispanic communities? Not rich Hispanics or poor blacks or poor whites. What is it about poor Hispanics that have this problem with kissing bugs?
It is different for the general public than for us in the medical field. We don't ever see tsetse flies around here but we did have a case of sleeping sickness African Trypanosomiasis in our hospital chain that needed to be identified under a microscope and there weren't many and could have been easily missed. The patient was neurologically compromised and decompensating rapidly. The CDC had to be consulted after the diagnosis for the proper treatment.
We have had malaria cases where the doctor wasn't aware of the it that I identified as a double infection with P falciparum and P vivax.
I did not get a chance to see Ehrlichia tick borne parasites. Never got to see a real elephantiasis or eye worm microfilaria. I can't say I haven't tried with patients and requests. Just getting them to draw blood at the right time is a problem.
The MMWR is to keep doctors alert as to what is going on.
The sensationalism can be bad as stated and as we learned with tick borne disease it took off to where everybody was claiming that everybody and their mother had either lyme disease or Ehrlichiosis or other.
I've had to deal with it from a diagnostic point of view so it is real to me even though the public has no clue about it. There are doctors requests and we are tested for it with actual unknown slides sent to us by agencies.
tick disease is nothing to laugh about. Ive know people who needed pacemakers due to the cardiac complications of lyme. Seizures due to the neuro complications. Now we have "tick malaria" which only use to be found in Calif but has spread thru canada and even here in new england. 2 staff members at my barn have just been treated for that disease. The treatment is almost as bad as the parasite.
Why are kissing bugs prevalent in poor Hispanic communities? Not rich Hispanics or poor blacks or poor whites. What is it about poor Hispanics that have this problem with kissing bugs?
You have to look at the host parasite cycle to see that the insect needs to gain entry in order to have access to people. Poor housing and construction will do that. This occurs in southern countries where the parasite is more prevalent. I don't know if you noticed or not but countries south of the US are "hispanic". North of the US are Canadians who speak English and French.
There is egress and ingress along the borders which are porous to trade and family connections. Most latinos are located in the southwest in proximity to the southern border. For this reason a national alert is optimal for educating healthcares professionals in looking for and in treating disease.
Regions are important but one is not limited by regions prevalent with a certain disease to the exclusion of other areas because of travel. I can tell you of one case that I detected which was a case of Histoplasmosis seen on a blood smear which never happens on the west coast. It occurs in the east and never seen in the west. As soon as I saw that on the blood smear I called the nurse and had her ask the patient if he was from the Ohio river basin and he said yes. I said thank you and notified the doctor of that fact. The case was so rare in the west that it was presented to the medical school students. The same applies to coccidioidomycosis who people in the east never see and would be hard to diagnose because doctors just don't see it nor would they think of it.
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