From the Moon series, Living Abroad in Nicaragua: "The Chagas bug is a large, recognizable insect, also called the kissing bug, assassin bug, and cone-nose...The Chagas bug bites its victim (usually on the face, close to the lips), sucks its fill of blood, and, for the coup de grâce, defecates on the newly created wound...Besides the downright insult of being bitten, sucked, and pooped on, the Chagas bug's biggest menace is the disease it carries, which manifests itself in 2 percent of its victims. The first symptoms include swollen glands and a fever that appear 1-2 weeks after the bite. The disease then goes into a 5-30 year remission phase. If and when it reappears, Chagas' disease causes the lining of the heart to swell, sometimes resulting in death. Unfortunately, there is no cure for Chagas' disease" (114).
Learn something new everyday.
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