A blood-sucking insect that potentially transmits a disease to human victims has been found in Colorado, according to a Fort Collins newspaper.

The Coloradoan reports the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are saying the kissing bug has now been reported in Colorado. The insect has been rapidly spreading northward from Central and South America into the southern U.S. in recent years, according to the CDC.

The kissing bug is not to be confused with the generally harmless boxelder bug, which it closely resembles. Boxelder bugs are extremely common across much of Wyoming.

The kissing bug is shown on the left in the above photo, while the boxelder bug is shown on the right.

The bug is known to carry chagas disease and infection that induces relatively mild flu-like symptoms in most people. But roughly a third of those infected with the disease can develop more serious heart or gastrointestinal illnesses which in some cases may longer years after the initial contact with the disease.  The disease is spread when the insect bites and then defecates (poops) in the wound

Chagas disease can in some cases be fatal, although it is highly treatable if the infection is discovered quickly.

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