Vietnam has reported the bug break-out, but people should not be so worried about transmission of Chagas disease because the country has no sources of Chagas, asserted a senior scientist.

A blood-sucking assassin bug collected in Hanoi.

VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam has reported the bug break-out, but people should not be so worried about transmission of Chagas disease because the country has no sources of Chagas, asserted Dr. Ho Dinh Trung, the Central Institute for Malaria – Parasitology – Entomology Vice-Head.’’

The public has been stirred by information about the appearance of blood-sucking assassin bugs in two big cities, Da Nang and Hanoi, which can transmit Chagas disease to humans.

Dr. Truong Xuan Lam from the Institute for Ecology and Biological Resources collected many specimens of blood-sucking assassin bugs in Hanoi, which surprised him because these bugs often live in the midlands.

According to Lam, this bug can transmit a parasite,Trypanosoma cruzi, which causes Chagas disease, which is potentially fatal. They live on human or cattle blood and often feed at night. Lam explained that many people don’t know about these bugs, so they don’t pay attention to them.

Many residents of Hai Phong, HCM City and Dong Nai told VNExpress that they have been bitten by these blood-sucking assassin bugs.

Pham Van Truong from Hai Phong claimed that he and his wife were bitten one year ago. At first, the couple thought they had been bitten by mosquitoes, but the bites swelled considerably and only disappeared after a long time. After being bitten 6-7 times, the couple thought perhaps they were bitten by something else. They searched their bed and found a bug that looked like the blood-sucking assassin bug. Since then, they have not been bitten.

The collection of blood-sucking assassin bugs of Dr. Truong Xuan Lam from the Institute for Ecology and Biological Resources.

Another reader wrote: “I was bitten by this insect over ten years ago. Even now I am sometimes bitten by them. The bites swell, and are hot and very itchy. I didn’t know what insect caused the bites until I found a big bug on my bed and its stomach contained a lot of blood.”

People are worried about catching Chagas disease from the bugs.

Dr. Trung from the Central Institute for Malaria – Parasitology – Entomology observed that it is very difficult to catch Chagas disease from these bugs, because Vietnam doesn’t have Chagas disease.

So far, Vietnam has no reported cases of Chagas disease.

PV