Ok, I found some information about the Chagas' disease. It's a parasite that's transmitted by a big bug that lives in thatched roofs or crevices in mud or stone walls called the "assassin" or "kissing" bug :



It drops onto your face while you are sleeping and bites you but at the same time defecates on you. If you rub the excrement into your eyes, the Trypanosoma cruzi gets into your blood and the acute symptoms begin after 7 to 14 days... Many years later the heart and/or the intestines become tremedously enlarged or dilated and death may result. This infection is rare in travelers but has caused a problem in that it can be transmitted through blood donations.

So you should try to avoid blood transfusions if you can...

I got this info from a book I checked out from the library last week:

The Travel Doctor by Mark Wise M.D.