Geographic Distribution

Fig. 4.1 Geographic distribution of Chagas' disease, showing human cases as well as T. cruzi infected animals and Triatomid vectors.

Chagas' disease is confined to North and South America from Texas to Patagonia (Argentina) (Fig. 4.1). It is hyperendemic in eastern Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and Venezuela. It is found chiefly in rural areas, and human infections have been reported from every country in the Western Hemisphere except Canada. Several children with Chagas' disease have been reported from Texas and infected triatomes (the insect vectors) and wild rodents have been discovered elsewhere in the southern and western United States. Today several million immigrants from countries where the disease is endemic live in the United States and Europe, creating a renewed interest in the study of Chagas' disease around the world.