We believe this is what killed my 7 year old lab FC AFC Manny.

Robby


Chagas: A Disease Carried by the “Kissing Bug” Can Be Deadly to Both Dogs and Humans
Arliss Paddock | May 19, 2015
CHAGAS … IS IT A NEW TYPE OF MARGARITA? IS IT A LATIN DANCE, OR A DEADLY DISEASE?
Unfortunately, it’s the latter. First discovered in Brazil in 1908 by Dr. Carlos Chagas, the disease called chagas is caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, or T. cruzi.

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Humans seem to be disposed to want to pat a dog on the head; this is likely for several reasons. A dog’s head is usually the closest part of the dog we can reach. For some dogs we don’t even have to bend down to reach our dog’s head. Humans seem to mimic this behavior from other humans. Think of a parent lovingly stroking their child’s hair. Children may enjoy this, but most dogs do not.
Its vector is the triatomine bug, and the parasite is transferred via the bug’s feces left near the feeding site. When this site is scratched or the ear or nose area is inadvertently rubbed, the parasite is transferred into the body via blood or mucous membrane.



Left and right: The triatomine bug, or "kissing bug." Center: The parasite Trypanosoma cruzi lives inside the kissing bug and can be transmitted to people, dogs, and other animals. —CDC.gov


Originally enzootic (only affecting animals within a specific geographic area), the disease became zoonotic (transmittable from animals to humans) when humans and domestic animals began to inhabit the bug’s natural habitat. This has resulted in serious implications for humans and domestic dogs throughout Latin and South America, and the bug's range has now spread into much of the U.S.

Named the “kissing bug” because its bite is often found on or around the face, the triatomine bug, like the tick, flea, or mosquito, will feed on both humans and animals.

While most people recognize the first three pests, very few are familiar with this bug, a nocturnal feeder that nests or lives in cracks or crevices in older homes of poor construction, as well as outdoors in a variety of places. Outdoor kennels and runs provide hiding places and close proximity to a blood meal, since these bugs do not live on their host animals but rather in surroundings.

Found as early as 1949 and subsequent years, the parasite T. cruzi was collected from triatomine bug specimens in Texas, California, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana.


In 2003, 11 of the 130 subspecies of the triatomine bug were reported in the southern half of the United States.

Extremely infectious, chagas has resulted in the death of both humans and dogs, in addition to other hosts.

In 2008, a study was done to determine occurrence patterns. The research used documented case records from 1993–2007 to assess frequency, geographic location, age/sex/breed, and the disease spectrum of chagas—also known as trypanosomiasis—in domestic dogs in Texas.

The dogs in these reported cases were primarily 48 breeds from the Sporting and Working groups—probably because these kinds of dogs were most likely to be kenneled outdoors.




Chagas has an acute stage and a chronic stage. Affected animals will develop generalized infection with extensive myocardial and central nervous system lesions. The acute stage also features anorexia, generalized enlarged lymph nodes, diarrhea, myocarditis, and sudden death.

In most cases, chagas is not thought of as the cause of a dog’s symptoms or death unless a blood test rules out the disease or an autopsy is performed.

In 2011, a staff epidemiologist for vector-borne and zoonotic diseases at the Texas Department of State Health Services noted that with chagas, “Dogs can look perfectly healthy, and they’ll be running around and just die.”


Occurrence of chagas disease is not limited to Texas, nor does it only affect outside dogs or people who live in rural areas. The triatomine bug that carries the parasite has been reported in 26 states—as far north as Illinois and Pennsylvania—and in both rural and urban settings.

Currently there is no vaccine for chagas. There are a few drugs that may be helpful in the acute stage, but both have serious side effects. Once chagas enters the chronic stage, there is no known treatment. Both humans and domesticated animals are at risk, and the presence of the disease in an area may go undetected because deaths due to chagas may simply be recorded as “due to myocarditis.” Without autopsy the parasite-damaged heart tissue would remain unknown.

WAYS TO HELP PREVENT CHAGAS:
Triatomine bugs are primarily nocturnal and feed on the blood of mammals (including humans), birds, and reptiles. Precautions to prevent house infestation include:

Sealing cracks and gaps around windows, walls, roofs, and doors
Removing wood, brush, and rock piles near your house
Using screens on doors and windows and repairing any holes or tears
If possible, making sure yard lights are not close to your house (lights can attract the bugs)
Sealing holes and cracks leading to the attic, crawl spaces below the house, and to the outside
Having pets sleep indoors, especially at night
Keeping your house and any outdoor pet resting areas clean, in addition to periodically checking both areas for the presence of bugs
More information on the disease can be found online using the search terms chagas or the kissing bug, and detailed information is available from the CDC, including a downloadable fact sheet.

—Patte Titus, German Shorthaired Pointer Club of America (AKC Gazette)

Yep, lost a dog to it. Kills a lot of people in Brazil. Found 5 bugs in my kennels last year. Tested the dog that lived in the kennel where they were found--it was negative.
You need to spray, and keep kennel lights out at night. Tear up any rat nests near the kennels. There is a treatment but you need to catch it very early for it to be at all effective.

I'm glad you posted this. I looked up the picture and I was bitten several times by these things in Fisher county last summer while cooking steaks one night. I had no idea they carried a disease or even what they were. I think we called them blister bugs when I was a kid.

Robby,

Thanks for sharing this with everyone. I did not know about this nasty bug. So sorry to hear about you losing Manny.

I first heard of chagas in 2008 and became friends with a lady who was doing research for the cdc in Atlanta, Ga and was based in Texas. A good friend had lost 2 dogs at his kennel in San Antonio and had sent for testing where Chagas was confirmed. Latter test showed most of his dogs had be infected. It is a very bad disease and control of the problem is almost impossible. The bug that spreads it will fly several miles to go to lights and there find a dog, or person, or rat or some other warm blooded mammal to infect.
You cannot keep them out of your house or bedroom. Spraying helps but we live in a new, well built and tight house and I kill 3 to 4 or the bugs in the house every year in the summer time. I kill 8 or 10 of the bugs on my porch every year.

She told me that the a grave in the rio grand valley was tested and the person who was listed as dying of a heart attack had chagas.

The further north you go the fewer bugs you find.

If you have a 5 yo dog drop dead while exercising a good chance it is chagas.

Bugs live everywhere but like dark places like garages, woodpiles, rock piles, trees, creeks, dog house, creeks etc.
My experience they show up in may and I quit killing bugs in october.

mIght not be a bad idea to get a blood test

Very sorry to hear about Manny!

Condolences