Assassin bugs or Kissing Bugs as they are sometimes known can be very dangerous for you and your pets. If you see one, do not touch it with bare hands or gloves that can be easily penetrated. On pets, they normally gather around the eyes or mouth and feed off blood. These bugs transmit the highly hazardous diseases called American Trypanosomiasis, which can prove fatal to you or your pet. It is also known as “Chagas Disease”.
The disease is contracted when the bug bites into the dog and then — sorry, this is nasty — rubs its feces into the bite wound or into a mucous membrane.
The bugs feed when pets are asleep. Dogs can also get Chagas disease by eating the bugs. Chagas disease is known as “the silent killer”…
