The dangers of the climate crisis is more than snow.

November 20, 2014
By Rebecca Kreston

...According to the latest research (click here) presented this month at the annual gathering of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, rates of Chagas infection among Americans are on the rise and are presenting a growing yet unappreciated public health threat to the United States.

Researchers at Baylor University presented the results of a study of the emergence of Chagas disease in Texas which demonstrate not only a surprisingly high incidence of the parasite in the state of Texas, but also showing elevated rates of associated heart disease in afflicted individuals. The researchers found that one in every 6,500 blood donors in Texas tested positive for the parasite, a finding that grossly undermines the CDC’s national estimate that one in every 300,000 people may be infected with Chagas in this country....

The parasite was once confined to tropical regions of the world, but, with warming occurring, it's habitat is moving northward. It is adapting to new plants and animals vectors while the temperatures remain friendly.

Chagas disease, (click here) also known as American trypanosomiasis, is a potentially life-threatening illness caused by the protozoan parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi). It is found mainly in endemic areas of 21 Latin American countries , where it is mostly vector-borne transmitted to humans by contact with faeces of triatomine bugs, known as 'kissing bugs', among other names, depending on the geographical area....