SAVANNAH, Ga. —

It's a small bug with a big reputation.

The kissing bug, once primarily found in South and Central America, is now making its way north, bringing with it Chagas disease—a parasitic infection that can be difficult to detect.

Dr. Tim Connelly with Memorial Health in Savannah, Georgia, explained the challenges of identifying the disease.

"It is a hard-to-detect disease," Connelly said. "Many individuals are asymptomatic."

When symptoms do appear, they can include unilateral, painless swelling of one eyelid during the first 12 weeks of infection.

"If people are acutely symptomatic in the first 12 weeks of infection, some people will have unilateral, painless swelling of one eyelid," Connelly said.

Other symptoms may resemble the flu.

"So if somebody has extreme fatigue

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