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These kissing bugs are anything but romantic. The nickname because they often bite people's faces attracted by their breath. Dr. Sarah Hamer studies the blood suckers at Texas A&M University. They're pretty stealthy and elusive because they need to try to find the host. The bugs carry a parasite that can cause Chagas disease. That can be deadly and show up as heart failure years after infection. The bugs are found mostly in Latin America and in the southern US but a girl was recently bitten much farther north in Delaware.
There's a whole range of symptoms which makes it again difficult to diagnose. Those symptoms can include rash, fever and body aches. The bugs occasionally find their way to cracks and homes and emerge overnight. What's the difference between kissing bugs and bed bugs? Bed bugs are adapted to living where people live and in your bed or in your home. kissing bugs or Triatominaes are bugs that live in the wild. So how can you protect yourself? The CDC says to remove wood piles and brush from outside your home and since the bugs are attracted to lights turn them off inside your home when you go to bed.
