The Brief

LOS ANGELES - Health officials are sounding the alarm on Chagas disease, a potentially deadly condition transmitted by an insect known as the "kissing bug".

It is now considered an endemic in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and UCLA Health.

What we know:

Health experts believe about 45,000 people in Los Angeles County are already infected and more than 300,000 people in the United States are infected. According to UCLA Health , fewer than 2% of those infected know they carry the parasite spread by the "kissing bug."

The insect is known as the "kissing bug" because it bites people on the face and sucks their blood. Experts say after they bite, they defecate, which deposits the parasite they carry, known as T. cruzi, onto the

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