Chagas disease in non-endemic countries

Globalisation can impose major public health challenges in local contexts. Because of human migration, Chagas disease—a condition endemic in Latin-American countries—has become a concern in the developed world.1,2 Chagas disease cannot be transmitted by direct contact with an infected person; in fact, the relevant mechanisms of transmission in non-endemic countries are transfusion with infected blood and congenital transmission from mother-to-child during pregnancy.