Watching out for the blood-sucking ‘kissing bug’ in Louisiana – WAFB

• Acadia Parish
• Ascension Parish
• Caddo Parish
• Iberia Parish
• Jefferson Parish
• Lafayette Parish
• Level Coupee Parish
• St. Charles Parish
• St Landry Parish
• St. Martin Parish
• Terrebone Parish

While the belief that of a stealthy malicious program literally spreading the kiss of demise can also very successfully be the component of nightmares, experts convey it’s the malicious program’s feeding task that’s more worrisome than its chunk. Because the malicious program feeds on blood, it defecates and spreads parasites via its feces. Transmission usually occurs when the feces is unwittingly rubbed into the itchy chunk wounds by an unsuspecting sufferer.

• Triatomine bugs (Kissing bugs)
• Congenital transmission
• Blood transfusions
• Organ transplantation
• Ingesting undercooked food

TIPS TO LIMIT EXPOSURE TO THE DISEASE-CARRYING INSECTS:

• Notify bed nets handled with long-lasting insecticides
• Wear keeping garments
• Practice insect repellent to uncovered pores and skin
• Hear to blood borne and food borne transmission
• Seal cracks and gaps around windows, walls, roofs, and doorways
• Notify monitors on doorways and windows
• Repair holes or tears
• Withhold living areas and exterior pet resting areas tidy
• The CDC recommends discovering exterior lights away from properties, canines kennels and chicken coops and turning off lights when no longer in expend
• Surfaces that reach into contact with the insect could per chance per chance light also be completely cleaned.

WHAT TO DO IF YOU FIND A BUG KNOWN FOR CARRYING THE DISEASE:

• DO NOT TOUCH IT DIRECTLY
• Notify gloves or a plastic derive to set it in a Ziploc derive
• Consume a image of the malicious program and check with LDH

• In July of 2006, officers documented the first human case of insect-transmitted Chagas parasite in Louisiana. The discovery marked the sixth ever affirmation in the U.S. Interviewers talked about a pest control operator figured out kissing bugs whereas assisting residents. Two residents had been examined for Chagas, one of which examined optimistic for the antibodies to the Chagas parasite.

• One case became reported in a resident of St. Martin Parish. This resident reported no main potential exposures exterior the U.S., but did characterize a historical previous of leisure camping.
• One other case became a resident of Lafayette Parish who couldn’t be contacted for an interview.

• A resident in Saint Charles Parish that became born in Central The USA became identified via blood donation screening. Interviewers famed the resident talked about having surgical treatment below her arm beforehand.

• One case, a resident living in the Opelousas home, famed a historical previous of leisure camping in the remark. The contaminated particular person famed to investigators they suffered an insect chunk with subsequent swelling the next morning. This case became identified via blood donation screening.
• The 2nd case became an Acadia Parish resident.

• A Mexican immigrant living in the Terrebonne Parish became identified via blood donation screening.

• A resident of the Pointe Coupee home had spent some time launch air and in a cabin in the woods and later suffered an asymptomatic infection.
• The 2nd asymptomatic case, an Iberia Parish resident, had no historical previous of world hurry back and forth, but urged interviewers they spent a well-known length of time camping. This case became also detected after a blood donation.
• An immigrant constructing employee from Mexico living in the Jefferson Parish home suffered cardiac arrest, fever, confusion, leukocytosis, thrombocytopenia, and became below the care and supervision of a heart specialist.

• An asymptomatic particular person grew to alter into contaminated via an organ transplant. The organ donor had beforehand lived in Central The USA.
• An asymptomatic particular person from Caddo parish became identified.
• Bugs identified to encourage the disease had been figured out finish to a home in Ascension Parish. A resident urged interviewers he had no longer traveled exterior of the nation everywhere in the time the infection became figured out, but had visited South The USA a lot of years prior. He became identified via a blood donation screening test. Confirmatory testing became no longer completed until 2018.