In Bed With the Enemy The Chagas disease used to mostly affect South American and Latin America, but more and more cases have been found in the U.S. in the past couple of years. Chagas affects around 6 to 8 million people every year, and kills about 50,000. What makes Chagas so dangerous is that it can go unnoticed for years, until it finally attacks the heart, which can lead to heart failure. The number of people infected with Chagas in the U.S. has been growing, and now has reached around 300,000 according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Scientists thought until recently that only the "kissing bug" could transmit this deadly disease, but evidence was found recently that bed bugs can also transmit this disease