The bed bug may be just as dangerous as its sinister cousin, the triatomine, or kissing bug. A new study from Penn Medicine researchers in the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics demonstrated that bed bugs, like the triatomines, can transmit Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite that causes Chagas disease, one of the most prevalent and deadly diseases in the Americas.
The role of the bloodsucking triatomine bugs as vectors of Chagas diseasewhich affects 6 to 8 million worldwide, mostly in Latin America, and kills about 50,000 a yearhas long been recognized. The insects infect people not through their bite but feces, which they deposit on their sleeping host, often around the face, after feeding. Bed bugs, on the other hand, are usually considered disease-free nuisances whose victims are left with only itchy welts from bites and sleepless nights.
In a study published online this week in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, senior author Michael Z. Levy, PhD, assistant professor in the department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvanias Perelman School of Medicine, and researchers at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Peru conducted a series of laboratory experiments that demonstrated bi-directional transmission of T. cruzi between mice and bed bugs.
In the first experiment run at the Zoonotic Disease Research Center in Arequipa, Peru, the researchers exposed 10 mice infected with the parasite to 20 uninfected bed bugs every three days for a month. Of about 2,000 bed bugs used in the experiment, the majority acquired T. cruzi after feeding on the mice. In a separate experiment to test transmission from bug to mouse, they found that 9 out of 12 (75 percent) uninfected mice acquired the parasite after each one lived for 30 days with 20 infected bed bugs.
In a third experiment, investigators succeeded in infecting mice by placing feces of infected bed bugs on the animals skin that had either been inflamed by bed bug bites, or scraped with a needle. Four out of 10 mice (40 percent) acquired the parasite by this manner; 1 out of 5 (20 percent) were infected when the skin was broken by the insects bites only. A final experiment performed at the Penn bed bug lab in Philadelphia demonstrated that bed bugs, like triatomines, defecate when they feed.
Weve shown that the bed bug can acquire and transmit the parasite. Our next step is to determine whether they are, or will become, an important player in the epidemiology of Chagas disease, Levy said. There are some reasons to worrybed bugs have more frequent contact with people than kissing bugs, and there are more of them in infested houses, giving them ample opportunity to transmit the parasite. But perhaps there is something important we dont yet understand about them that mitigates the threat.
T. cruzi is also especially at home in the guts of bed bugs. Ive never seen so many parasites in an insect, said Renzo Salazar, a biologist at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia and co-author on the study. I expected a scenario with very low infection, but we found many parasitesthey really replicate well in the gut of the bed bugs.
Wicked Cousins
Bed bugs and kissing bugs are distant cousins but share many striking similarities. Both insects hide in household cracks and crevices waiting for nightfall and the opportunity to feed on sleeping hosts. They are from the same order of insects (Hemiptera) and both only feed on blood. (One main difference is their size: kissing bugs are five times as big as a bed bug). With so much in common, it seemed logical to the authors that the kissing bugs most infamous trait, the transmission of T. cruzi, is also shared by the bed bug.
Other investigators have shared this suspicion. In 1912, just three years after Carlos Chagas described the transmission of the disease by kissing bugs, French parasitologist mile Brumpt recounted that he had infected almost 100 bed bugs exposed to an infectious mouse, and then used them to infect two healthy mice. Decades later an Argentine group replicated his work. These experiments, largely ignored during the recent bed bug resurgence, missed one key point.
View post:
Research | Penn study shows bed bugs can transmit parasite ...
- The Bed Bugs Are Coming ! The Bed Bugs Are Coming ! [Last Updated On: September 8th, 2011] [Originally Added On: September 8th, 2011]
- When the bed bug bites-One Woman's Story [Last Updated On: September 22nd, 2011] [Originally Added On: September 22nd, 2011]
- Removed Favorites worth Searching for [Last Updated On: September 25th, 2011] [Originally Added On: September 25th, 2011]
- My Dogs Are Tired [Last Updated On: October 3rd, 2011] [Originally Added On: October 3rd, 2011]
- Global BC: Bed bugs spreading - Video [Last Updated On: October 31st, 2011] [Originally Added On: October 31st, 2011]
- Protect your home from BED BUGS. I have never seen one but be safe segregate purchases - Video [Last Updated On: December 3rd, 2011] [Originally Added On: December 3rd, 2011]
- Community College Bedbugs Found Downtown - Video [Last Updated On: December 14th, 2011] [Originally Added On: December 14th, 2011]
- A Bedbug Thinks Vancouver Parents Are Crazy - Video [Last Updated On: January 6th, 2012] [Originally Added On: January 6th, 2012]
- Heat treatment for bed bugs in Greater Vancouver, BC - Video [Last Updated On: February 6th, 2012] [Originally Added On: February 6th, 2012]
- Bed Bugs - Health Protection - Province of British Columbia [Last Updated On: November 3rd, 2013] [Originally Added On: November 3rd, 2013]
- Bed Bug Extermination & Control | Heat N Go Pest Control [Last Updated On: November 3rd, 2013] [Originally Added On: November 3rd, 2013]
- Bed Bug Heat Treatment Process | Heat-N-Go Bed Bug Extermination [Last Updated On: November 3rd, 2013] [Originally Added On: November 3rd, 2013]
- Bed Bugs - HealthLinkBC File #95 [Last Updated On: November 12th, 2013] [Originally Added On: November 12th, 2013]
- British Columbia, Bed Bug Reports | National Bed Bug Registry ... [Last Updated On: November 23rd, 2013] [Originally Added On: November 23rd, 2013]
- british columbia — Got bed bugs? Bedbugger.com [Last Updated On: November 27th, 2013] [Originally Added On: November 27th, 2013]
- New Technology Offers Solution to US Bed Bug Epidemic ... [Last Updated On: November 27th, 2013] [Originally Added On: November 27th, 2013]
- Bed bugs in rental apartments: does the landlord or tenant pay ... [Last Updated On: December 23rd, 2013] [Originally Added On: December 23rd, 2013]
- Let the Bed Bugs Bite? Time to Call *9*1*1 PEST CONTROL! [Last Updated On: January 21st, 2014] [Originally Added On: January 21st, 2014]
- british columbia Got bed bugs? Bedbugger.com [Last Updated On: February 5th, 2014] [Originally Added On: February 5th, 2014]
- BC Got bed bugs? Bedbugger.com - bed bug news ... [Last Updated On: March 14th, 2014] [Originally Added On: March 14th, 2014]
- Video - Kill Bed Bugs | Heat-N-Go Bed Bug Extermination [Last Updated On: June 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: June 2nd, 2014]
- Researchers compare efficacy of 'natural' bed bug pesticides [Last Updated On: October 12th, 2014] [Originally Added On: October 12th, 2014]
- Bed Bugs!!! - Review of Aava Whistler Hotel, Whistler ... [Last Updated On: December 4th, 2014] [Originally Added On: December 4th, 2014]
- ADD Bed Bug Infestation - ECG threatens to disconnect ... [Last Updated On: December 17th, 2014] [Originally Added On: December 17th, 2014]
- Scientist endures 180,000 bed bug bites [Last Updated On: December 23rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: December 23rd, 2014]
- Scientist endures 180,000 bed bug bites to help develop trap [Last Updated On: December 23rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: December 23rd, 2014]
- No more itching! Scientists discover a 'cocktail of chemicals' that lures bedbugs into traps - and keeps them there [Last Updated On: December 24th, 2014] [Originally Added On: December 24th, 2014]
- Bed Bugs - Review of BEST WESTERN Invermere Inn, Invermere ... [Last Updated On: December 24th, 2014] [Originally Added On: December 24th, 2014]
- British Columbia University develops improved bed bug trap [Last Updated On: December 24th, 2014] [Originally Added On: December 24th, 2014]
- Bedbug bait and trap invented by Simon Fraser University ... [Last Updated On: December 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: December 27th, 2014]
- kill bed bugs - The New Way to Kill Bedbugs | Rodale News [Last Updated On: January 1st, 2015] [Originally Added On: January 1st, 2015]
- A Better Bedbug Trap Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Bed Bug ... [Last Updated On: January 4th, 2015] [Originally Added On: January 4th, 2015]
- Travelers Update on the Bed Bug Wars: Importing Pheromone ... [Last Updated On: January 5th, 2015] [Originally Added On: January 5th, 2015]
- Woman allows thousands of bedbugs to feed on her over 5 years, makes incredible discovery [Last Updated On: January 9th, 2015] [Originally Added On: January 9th, 2015]
- Woman sleeps with bedbugs for 5 years in name of science [Last Updated On: January 9th, 2015] [Originally Added On: January 9th, 2015]
- Bed bugs. - Review of Buchan Hotel, Vancouver, British ... [Last Updated On: January 9th, 2015] [Originally Added On: January 9th, 2015]
- Woman allows thousands of bedbugs to bite her for five years [Last Updated On: January 9th, 2015] [Originally Added On: January 9th, 2015]
- Woman Allows Thousands of Bedbugs to Feed on her for 5 years, Makes Incredible Discovery [Last Updated On: January 9th, 2015] [Originally Added On: January 9th, 2015]
- Woman allows thousands of bedbugs to bite her for 5 years [Last Updated On: January 9th, 2015] [Originally Added On: January 9th, 2015]
- Thousands of bed bugs feast on woman for five years [Last Updated On: January 9th, 2015] [Originally Added On: January 9th, 2015]
- Woman allows bed bugs to feed on her for 5 years, makes game-changing discovery [Last Updated On: January 9th, 2015] [Originally Added On: January 9th, 2015]
- Top Bed Bug Infested Cities in 2015 | BEDBUGS.NET | The ... [Last Updated On: January 30th, 2015] [Originally Added On: January 30th, 2015]
- Fort McMurray Baby's Death Caused By Pesticide For Bed Bugs [Last Updated On: February 26th, 2015] [Originally Added On: February 26th, 2015]
- How To Identify Bed Bug Bites Ehow [Last Updated On: March 5th, 2015] [Originally Added On: March 5th, 2015]
- Patrick Guilfoile: Eternal rest for bedbugs | Bemidji Pioneer [Last Updated On: March 13th, 2015] [Originally Added On: March 13th, 2015]
- Mice in rooms & Bed Bugs Infested!!! DO NOT STAY HERE ... [Last Updated On: April 2nd, 2015] [Originally Added On: April 2nd, 2015]
- The Woman Who Let 200,000 Bed Bugs Bite HerFor Science ... [Last Updated On: October 3rd, 2015] [Originally Added On: October 3rd, 2015]
- How to kill bed bugs without pesticides | Toxics | What ... [Last Updated On: July 22nd, 2016] [Originally Added On: July 22nd, 2016]
- Bedbugs - NHS Choices [Last Updated On: February 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: February 18th, 2017]
- BED BUGS AND OTHER INFESTATIONS - tenants [Last Updated On: June 9th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 9th, 2017]
- About the Bed Bug Registry [Last Updated On: June 26th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 26th, 2017]
- Bed Bug Extermination Services Kelowna, British Columbia ... [Last Updated On: June 29th, 2017] [Originally Added On: June 29th, 2017]
- Worst cities for bed bugs - Castanet.net [Last Updated On: August 2nd, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 2nd, 2017]
- Five Things to Know: Controlled burn out of control, Vancouver filled with smoke and bedbugs - Vancouver Sun [Last Updated On: August 4th, 2017] [Originally Added On: August 4th, 2017]
- Bed Bugs Vancouver Vancouver, British Columbia, Bed Bug ... [Last Updated On: October 18th, 2017] [Originally Added On: October 18th, 2017]
- Baby Bed Bug Nymphs: Appearance, Habitat, Bites, etc. [Last Updated On: June 20th, 2018] [Originally Added On: June 20th, 2018]
- Bed Bugs Heat Treatment Vancouver | Pest Control Services [Last Updated On: January 27th, 2019] [Originally Added On: January 27th, 2019]
- How Bed Bugs Affect Your Health and What to Do About It ... [Last Updated On: January 29th, 2019] [Originally Added On: January 29th, 2019]
- Bed Bugs: What are a landlords responsibilities ... [Last Updated On: January 30th, 2019] [Originally Added On: January 30th, 2019]
- The Law About Bed Bugs in Canada | Rox Bugs Vancouver ... [Last Updated On: March 15th, 2019] [Originally Added On: March 15th, 2019]
- DEALING WITH BED BUGS IN CANADA : Bedbugs Vancouver ... [Last Updated On: April 7th, 2019] [Originally Added On: April 7th, 2019]
- 'There is an urgency': Feds seek pest control pros to help employees with bedbugs - Ottawa Citizen [Last Updated On: November 13th, 2019] [Originally Added On: November 13th, 2019]
- Bedbug invasion: Why the itch-inducing pests are making a big comeback in a building near you - Ottawa Citizen [Last Updated On: December 4th, 2019] [Originally Added On: December 4th, 2019]
- Vancouver Bed Bug Registry Maps Vancouver, British ... [Last Updated On: March 19th, 2020] [Originally Added On: March 19th, 2020]
- Bedbugs | HealthLink BC [Last Updated On: July 23rd, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 23rd, 2020]