Mon Sep 08 14:30:00 UTC 2025: Here’s a summary of the text, followed by a rewritten version as a news article:

**Summary:**

Chagas disease, a parasitic illness transmitted by kissing bugs, is present in the U.S., including California, and often goes undiagnosed for years. Experts are urging the WHO and CDC to declare it endemic in the U.S. to raise awareness and resources for treatment. The disease can lead to severe heart and organ damage, and is often misdiagnosed. While many cases in California originate from abroad, local transmission is occurring, particularly among wildlife. Lack of standardized reporting and screening hinders accurate case counts and early treatment, leading to preventable deaths and costly interventions. Veterinarians are also seeing Chagas in dogs with similar symptoms.

**News Article:**

**Chagas Disease Lurks Undiagnosed in California, Across U.S., Experts Warn**

**San Francisco, CA** – A silent killer is stalking California and 29 other states, and health experts are sounding the alarm. Chagas disease, a parasitic illness transmitted by the unassuming “kissing bug,” is significantly underdiagnosed in the U.S., leading to preventable deaths and costly medical interventions.

While often associated with Latin America, where it kills more people annually than malaria, researchers estimate that roughly 300,000 Americans unknowingly harbor the parasite *Trypanosoma cruzi*. The disease often lies dormant for years, only revealing itself through devastating complications like heart attacks, strokes, and organ failure.

“This is a disease that has been neglected,” says Norman Beatty, a medical epidemiologist at the University of Florida. “But it’s also here in the United States.”

California, with its large Latin American population, has the highest number of Chagas cases in the U.S., estimated between 70,000 and 100,000. While many cases are acquired abroad, evidence suggests local transmission is occurring. Kissing bugs, vectors for the parasite, are found in various California locations, including even affluent neighborhoods such as the Hollywood Hills. The parasite has also been detected in local wildlife, including wood rats, skunks, mice, bats, raccoons, and black bears.

“Kissing bugs are pretty equal opportunity when it comes to who they take a blood meal from,” said Sarah Hamer, an epidemiologist at Texas A&M University.

Now, a team of epidemiologists, researchers, and doctors is calling on the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to declare Chagas disease endemic in the U.S. This designation would, they hope, spur greater awareness, education, and public health funding to combat the disease.

One major obstacle is the lack of standardized reporting. Chagas disease is not a reportable illness in California, except for Los Angeles and San Diego counties, meaning cases are not systematically tracked or investigated. Gabriel Hamer, an entomologist at Texas A&M, believes confirmed cases are just “the tip of the iceberg.”

As a result, many individuals only discover they have Chagas after a positive blood donation screening. Janeice Smith, a retired teacher, found out she had Chagas decades after a suspected initial infection in Mexico. She now runs a non-profit to raise awareness.

Ashley Saunders, a Texas A&M veterinary cardiologist, noted that Chagas is also prevalent in dogs in the US, which often show similar symptoms, such as heart failure or arrhythmias.

Early diagnosis and treatment with antiparasitic medications can halt the progression of Chagas disease. However, because the disease is often misdiagnosed or undetected, patients frequently present with advanced symptoms requiring expensive interventions like organ transplants.

“The disease is definitely underdiagnosed,” says Salvador Hernandez, a cardiologist with Kaiser Permanente. “If we screened for it and caught it early, most patients could be cured. The problem is we don’t, and people end up dying or requiring terrifically expensive care.”

Experts urge healthcare providers to consider Chagas disease in patients with unexplained heart or organ problems, particularly those with a history of living in or traveling to endemic regions, or those who may have been exposed to kissing bugs.

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