Kissing bug can be found in U.S. but health experts say Idaho not at risk

Kissing bugs, or triatomine bugs, are three-quarters of an inch long insects. They get their name because they tend to bite around the mouth.

But biting isn’t what causes infection. Joyce Devaud, an infection preventionist at Portneuf Medical Center, said it’s when they infect that wound that causes illness.

“What it does is it defecates,” Devaud said. “When it defecates, if you happen to move it anywhere near any of your mucus membranes and if it has that particular disease, it will get into your system.”

Once in a body’s system, the parasite carried by the kissing bug can cause Chagas disease.

Chagas disease can cause serious heart and stomach issues. Basic symptoms of Chagas are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever and body aches.

One particular characteristic of Chagas can be swollen or droopy eyelids.

So how common is this in Idaho?

“It’s one that has not come across as being a bug that’s readily found in our areas,” said Jeff Doerr, an epidemiologist at Southeastern Idaho Public Health. “Even in some of the other areas of the U.S., it’s one that’s not very common.”

While there have been some reported cases of Chagas and the kissing bug in the U.S., there have been zero cases in Idaho.

Kissing bugs are found mainly in Central or South America and they only come to the states from people traveling from those countries.

“Here, where with our building construction, where you have screened-in windows, air conditioning, things are just a little more sealed up,” Doerr said. “Where the bugs would normally be, we don’t see those very often here.”

Doerr said a lot of people do tend to get the types of bugs mixed up with the kissing bug because it looks similar to a lot of others. One common one people mistake for the kissing bug is the assassin, or masked hunter, bug. The biggest difference is the coloring on the kissing bug. Kissing bugs usually have colored spots around their sides.

Doerr said while Chagas can, and sometimes does occur, in the U.S, it’s not common and Idaho shouldn’t have to worry.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has some recommendations on its website for people traveling to those countries to reduce the risk of bringing back the bug. The website also has more information on Chagas and the kissing bug.