Chagas disease is caused by Trypanosoma cruzi. Infection is transmitted to humans when bitten by Triatominae (reduviid, kissing, or assassin) bugs in South and Central America, Mexico, and very rarely in the US. Less commonly, T. cruzi is transmitted via ingestion of sugar cane juice or food contaminated with infected Triatominae bugs or their feces, transplacentally from an infected mother to her fetus, or via blood transfusion or an organ transplant from an infected donor.