Supporting the Canine Chagas Collaborative
Financial contributions will be used to further support research on Chagas disease in dogs and improve dog health.
The Initiative
Chagas disease is a deadly cardiac disease in humans and dogs caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi that can be transmitted by the infected feces of the blood-sucking kissing bug. Infected kissing bugs are found throughout Central and South America and the southern United States. Our team has found kissing bugs across the state of Texas, and over 60% are infected with the parasite. Dogs are affected in regions where infected kissing bugs thrive, and an increasing number of Texas dogs are being diagnosed as positive for infection with practically no options for treating the disease.
Our research team combines experts in veterinary medicine, parasitology, entomology, ecology, and public health. We are taking a ‘One Health’ approach to study the ecology and epidemiology of Chagas disease and how it specifically affects dogs in the southern US. We anticipate that our efforts will provide critical information useful in efforts to predict and reduce Chagas disease in dogs and humans.
Specific Research Activities
- Assessing different dog populations (dogs at shelters, working dogs, show dogs, and household pets) to determine risk factors for Chagas disease
- Characterizing the clinical spectrum of disease progression in dogs with Chagas disease
- Integrating clinical, molecular, and serologic data to refine a canine Chagas disease staging system
- Providing a promising new treatment regimen to dogs in different states of disease to learn which dogs will benefit the most from treatment
- Educating the public and veterinarians about Chagas disease in canine populations through continuing education and outreach efforts
- Partnering with Texas A&M’s state-wide ‘citizen science’ effort to collect and analyze kissing bugs found by the public
- Field research and working with other stakeholders across private ranches and wilderness areas to trap kissing bugs
Support Canine Chagas Collaborative Research
Option 1:
Give online. Select the appropriate items in the form fields as shown to designate your support to the correct account.
Option 2:
Contact the VMBS Office of Development.
Phone: 979.845.9043 | Fax: 979.845.5088
Help Us!
Have you found a kissing bug?
Submit it to the Kissing Bug Community Science Program!
This program has received nearly 10,000 kissing bugs from the public since 2013 from across 28 states, with photo submissions spanning 10 countries! We welcome your submissions to advance the science.
