A new study from the University of Texas at El Paso has found unusually high concentrations of Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi), the parasite that causes Chagas disease, in kissing bugs collected near the U.S.–Mexico border.
For the study, UTEP researchers collected kissing bugs from El Paso County, Tex. and southern New Mexico, including from yards, under garden furniture and firewood.
Of the 26 kissing bugs collected, 22 – or 88.5% – were positive for T. cruzi. A similar study conducted in 2021 by the same team found that only 66% of kissing bugs collected in the region carried the parasite…