Chagas disease

:  a tropical American disease that is caused by a trypanosome (Trypanosoma cruzi) transmitted chiefly by blood-sucking insects (genus Triatoma, Rhodnius, and Panstrongylus) and that occurs in both an acute and chronic form ◆The acute form of Chagas disease lasts for several weeks to months and is marked by mild symptoms (such as fever, fatigue, or swelling at the infection site) or rarely by serious symptoms (such as myocarditis or meningoencephalitis) but is often asymptomatic. The acute form may sometimes progress years later to a chronic form characterized especially by cardiac and gastrointestinal complications (such as cardiomyopathy, irregular heart rhythm, and enlargement of the colon or esophagus). Chagas disease kills more Latin Americans than any other parasitic illness. — The Economist Chagas' disease spreads via insect fecal contamination of its own bite. — Phil Gunby