by Dye-Braumuller KC, Evans CL, Lynn MK, Forsyth CJ, Gomez C, Nolan MS. The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 2020, 103(4):1487-1489. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.20-0043
Summary: The protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease, can be transmitted through the bite of a triatomine (kissing bug). This case report describes an investigation into a reported triatomine bite in rural coastal South Carolina. The insect in question, an eastern conenose bug, Triatoma sanguisuga, was found to be negative for Trypanosoma cruzi by PCR. This is the first published report of a bite from T. sanguisuga in South Carolina, although triatomine vectors have been documented in the state since the 1850s. Sylvatic T. cruzi reservoirs are common throughout the southeastern United States, and this case brings to light the possibility of human contact with infected triatomines in the state of South Carolina.
