New Delhi, Sept. 5 -- US health officials are sounding the alarm on Chagas disease, an illness caused by a parasite that is transmitted by kissing bugs (also known as "assassin bugs"). Initially limited to Latin America, health officials have confirmed the disease in eight US states and suspect transmission in another 32 states - mainly in the southwestern states and California, reported The New York Post.

In the report, the publication referred to a study published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Emerging Infectious Diseases journal, noting that Chagas disease should be recognized as an endemic disease in the US. The term 'endemic' refers to a disease that has a constant presence in a geographical area where the ...