Chagas disease is a human tropical parasitic disease which occurs in
the Americas, particularly in South America. Its pathogenic agent is a
flagellate protozoan named Trypanosoma cruzi, which is transmitted to
humans and other mammals mostly by hematophagous insects of the
subfamily Triatominae. Those insects are known by numerous common
names varying by country, including assassin bug, benchuca, and
kissing bug. Other forms of transmission are possible, though, such as
ingestion of food contaminated with parasites, blood transfusion and
fetal transmission. T. cruzi is in the same genus as the infectious
agent of African sleeping sickness, but its clinical manifestations,
geographical distribution, life cycle and insect vectors are quite
different.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chagas_disease
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1667:
The Treaty of Breda ended the Second Anglo-Dutch War.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Breda)
1790:
The U.S. Patent Office issued the first patent in the United States.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/patent)
1917:
The Battle of Passchendaele began on the Western Front in World War I.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passchendaele)
1941:
Holocaust: Hermann Göring ordered SS general Reinhard Heydrich to
develop a final solution to the Jewish question.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/final_solution)
1971:
Apollo program: The first Lunar Rover was used during the Apollo 15
moon mission.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Rover)
_____________________
Wikiquote of the day:
"I think I'd most like to spend a day with Harry. I'd take him out for
a meal and apologise for everything I've put him through." -- J. K.
Rowling
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._K._Rowling)