Electrical engineering

Public health

Pathology

Sociology

Disease

Biology

Chagas disease

Demography

Engineering

Political science

Latin Americans

Ecology

Residence

Triatominae

Heteroptera

Reduviidae

Medicine

Transmission (telecommunications)

Environmental health

Acta Tropica

Chagas disease is a leading cause of non-ischemic cardiomyopathy in Latin America and an infection of emerging importance in the USA. Recent studies have uncovered evidence of an active peridomestic cycle in southern states, yet autochthonous transmission to humans has been rarely reported. We conducted a systematic review of the literature and public health department reports to investigate suspected or confirmed locally acquired cases of Chagas in the USA. We found 76 cases of contemporary suspected or confirmed locally acquired Chagas disease, nearly ten times the case counts cited in the prior 50 years of scientific literature. Shared risk factors among cases include rural residence, history of hunting or camping, and agricultural or outdoor work. The results of this review suggest that the disease burden and risk of autochthonous Chagas infection is potentially higher in the USA than previously recognized.

Contemporary autochthonous human Chagas disease in the USA