LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV)- The kissing bug is a silent killer.
“It’s a spoon shaped insect that's one inch long that's got a black and red spots around the outside of the insect,” Dirk Haselow, with the Arkansas Department of Health, said.
The insect could carry a parasite in its feces that causes Chagas disease.
“The parasite that causes Chagas disease is called Trypanosoma Cruzi,” he said.
If you're bitten by a bug that has the parasite, you could face chronic heart disease.
“You typically don't have much symptoms right away but ten years later, a portion of people will develop an enlarged heart or enlarged colon,” he said.
The disease has been seen in Arkansas, three people have been diagnosed, two in 2015 and one in 2016.
“We haven't had any cases in the last two years,” he said.
Owner of Curry's termite and Pest control, Scott Pinney, said they do spray for the kissing bug or as the call it the assassin bug.
“We haven't had any calls on them here recently but we've had some calls in the year's past but it's not a very common pest to get a call on,” he said.
He said he's never seen the bug in anyone's home and its definitely not at the top of their list.
“Ants are number one then roaches and then mice,” he said.
As for the Department of Health, they said Chagas disease is extremely rare in Arkansas and there's other bugs you should be more worried about.
“I would not be overly concerned about it and it would be much more useful for people to be concerned about tickborne illnesses like rocky mountain spotted fever or Ehrlichiosis,” he said.
The department said if you find the bug in your house, capture it, and send it in to them so they can test it.