Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-08-15
Of Stors, Men
And Atoms
Notebook Of Science Progress
In Field. Laboratory
And Study
BIZ Thomas r, Henri.

"'o Ssoo/
By Thomas r. Henry.
The kissing bug" giant bedbus, has
brought into the United States the germs
Of one of the deadliest of tropical
maladies, Chagas' disease.
Germs known to be responsible for
this fever, which nearly always proves
fatal, have been found in the bodies
Of these insects near the Mexican
border. At the same time the bugs
themselves have been found in mat.
tresses of nearby houses. Fortunately.
however, none Of those found In beds
showed any trace Of the germs. There
has never been case reported In this
country. 1t Is found generally through
tropical America and especially In
Brazil, where 1t was first described.
Even without disease germs, the newly
introduced bedbug is dangerous. It is
from two to five times the size OF the
ordinary bedbug, Of which it is a distant
relative. 1t Is a bloodsucker. Its sting
Is described as worse than that of a bee.
Nobody can ever become accustomed to
it and when 1t stings, the sleeper is
likely to awake with scream. Several
serious poisoning cases have been
described and few years ago an Ameri-
can schoolteacher in the Philippines was
killed when a closely related species
stung her on the temple.
Ordinarily the insect frequents the
nests OF field mice or of rats and seldom
Is found in houses. When hungry, how
ever, 1t will make a meal of the blood
OF any mammal, including man. Prac-
tlc1!-J all the higher mammals are
subject to the disease. 1t ordinarily
would be passed on to man only after
the protocol responsible for it had
been obtained by the bug from the blood
OF some other host. The fact that some
OF those gathered In Texas showed an
abundance OF the deadly protocol shows
that they have been introduced over the
border and it will be only a matter OF
time before some human being is In
fected.
The disease, Public Health Service
physicians say, has never occurred in
epidemic form but there have been
serious local outbreaks of 1t. Up to a
few years ago every known case ended
fatally, but now occasional recoveries
are reported. The danger is increased
by the fact that one other species fairly
abundant in parts of the South and
which occasionally gets on human beings
Is also a vector Of the malady. It is
not known whether 1t could be carried
by ordinary bedbugs, but this is con-
sidered improbable.
Once inside house these insects are
most likely to be found in the beds.
Once established they are, like ordinary
bedbugs hard to eliminate. The Texas
homes in which they were found, 1t
Is reported by DR.. Ardzroony Pack
chanian of the Public Health Service
staff, were fairly recent buildings oc-
cupied by poor families. Like other
bedbugs they probably can be kept
away by scrupulous cleanliness, although
at present relatively little is known OF
their life habits.
In Mexico, where 1t is fairly abundant,
the insect has been the subject OF con-
siderable Legendary. One story, to which
1t owes its name, is that it prefers to
bite people on the lips and that such
a kiss" is likely to be Kiss Of DEATH
In Texas it is also known as the Mexican
bedbug and the bloodsucker. The case
against the insects was proved by the
Public Health Service doctors when
they took cultures of the protozoa OBJ
tanned from them and innoculated other
animals. AL the victims were taken
sick with symptoms Enthusiastically those
Of Chagas' disease and the organisms
themselves were recovered from their
blood. 1t was also possible to cultivate
the germs outside the body.
The malady itself is characterized by a
high fever, the patient finally passing
into q coma from which there is no re-
covery. 1t is not transmissible from
person to person except through the
bugs. but once loose In a house 1t might
strike down an entire family. The
insect Is secretive and its hiding places
are hard to locate. In the Texas houses
several were found under wallpaper.
Unlike many other disease-carryins
insects, the kissing bug does not inherit
the disease and each individual must
get it from some animal or man upon
whose blood it feeds. DR.. Packchanian
and his assistants found that 1t was
much more prevalent in the adult speci-
mems they captured in the fields than
in the newly Matched nymphs who had
not yet had time to acquire 1t.
Chagas' disease appears to be solely
q malady of warmth FLOODED animals. The
kissing bugs themselves are not affected
by 1t.
The insect, DR.. Packchanian reports.
must already be considered "domesti-
Gated pest" in parts Of Texas. 1t may
spread through much of the South but
probably never will make its way into
cooler climates. Ordinarily, DR.. Pack
chanian found, 1t makes its way into
houses only during the summer months
Present-Day Immigrants
Held american.