I GREW UP BELIEVING that my auntie had almost

died because she ate an apple in South America.

According to the family stories, the fruit had been

contaminated, or maybe an insect had been crawling

on it and had bitten Tía Dora. However it had hap-

pened, my family understood this: A New York doctor

had diagnosed my auntie with Chagas disease. It

meant my auntie could die. We didn’t ask questions.

English wasn’t our first language. My parents worked

in factories. We took care of my auntie as she went

in and out of hospitals for decades. When I reached

my late 30s, Tía Dora was rushed to the hospital one

night. A week later, she died. She was 59 years old,

and I thought Chagas was a rare disease. I was wrong.

Named after the Brazilian doctor who discovered

the disease in 1909, Chagas is more prevalent today

in the United States than the Zika virus. And in the

Western Hemisphere, the disease burden of Chagas

is almost eight times that of malaria.

BY DAISY HERNÁNDEZ

WHY IS SO LITTLE KNOWN ABOUT A PARASITIC INFECTION PLAGUING SOME

300,000 PEOPLE IN THE U.S.? BECAUSE IT’S A DISEASE OF P OVERT Y.

I

IN THIS SECTION

Stars Aborning

Popcorn Power

Squirrel Fluorescence

China Cuts Plastics

THE DISCOVERIES OF TODAY THAT WILL DEFINE THE WORLD OF TOMORROW

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC VOL. 235 NO. 6

EMBARK

In Search of the

Kissing Bug