Although the name, “kissing bug,” may not make you feel uncomfortable, they certainly will, once you know the truth about them. Rather than living up to their name, they are actually blood sucking parasites who feed on both animals and people. They are known as kissing bugs because they tend to bite people while they are sleeping near the mouth and around the eyes.
Kissing bugs were once confined to places such as Bolivia, but now, they are spreading across the globe. Even the UK is not immune to the infestation, and according to a parasitology expert in Paris, “Europe is its most recent port of call.” This isn’t too far fetched, because over 80,000 immigrants living in Spain are dealing with Chagas disease, which is what the kissing bug transmits.
Kissing bugs can transmit a parasitic infection to animals and humans known as Chagas disease. It was rare at one time but now, it is quite widespread. Many people who have it are unaware that they are infected but it can be deadly if it is left untreated.