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Chagas, a disease that can lead to life-threatening heart and digestive disorders, is in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. So far, seven cases have been diagnosed in Arizona and California. Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin said the bugs that cause the disease, the Triatomid or "kissing bug," were already discovered in 11 southern and central Texas counties.

AUSTIN, Texas — Chagas disease, a tropical parasitic disease that can lead to life-threatening heart and digestive disorders, may be more widespread in Texas than previously thought, according to research from The University of Texas at Austin. A composite risk map for Chagas disease in Texas. According to Sahotra Sarkar's analysis eleven counties are at particular risk: Bee, Bexar, Brooks, Cameron, DeWitt, Goliad, Hidalgo, Jim Wells, Kenedy, Kleberg, and Nueces. "We've been studying this for four years now, and this year the number of disease-causing insects is quite amazing," says Sahotra Sarkar, professor of integrative biology and philosophy at The...

For a disease that begins with a bite from the deceptively sweet-sounding kissing bug, Chagas disease is a major killer in some parts of the world. The bug deposits a parasite that can lurk silently in the body for decades before causing the heart to enlarge — and sometimes the colon or esophagus as well. Chagas, which afflicts millions in Latin America, was long thought to be largely confined there. But a recently approved test to screen blood donors has identified hundreds of cases across the United States — including eight in Bexar County. The sudden appearance of these cases...