Health officials in Texas and Virginia are concerned about the rise of a new blood-sucking insect with a deadly bite known as the "kissing bug."

The "kissing bug," or triatominae, carries a deadly parasite that can cause Chagas disease and lead to death if not properly treated.

The bugs originated in Mexico and Central and South America, where millions of people have been infected. However, more and more cases are being discovered in the United States, especially in Virginia and Texas, reports The Atlantic.

According to Cardiologist Dr. Rachel Marcus, northern Virginia could be "ground zero" for Chagas disease due to the increasing number of Bolivian immigrants migrating there. 

In addition, researchers at Texas A&M told NBC affliate KFDX that they've discovered kissing bugs in Dallas.

Someone who is infected with the disease can live for many years without showing any signs of having it, according to the World Health Organization. "Up to 30% of patients suffer from cardiac disorders and up to 10% suffer from digestive (typically enlargement of the oesophagus or colon), neurological or mixed alterations. In later years the infection can lead to sudden death or heart failure caused by progressive destruction of the heart muscle," states the WHO.

Susan Montgomery, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says that the disease became popular in the medical field among U.S. doctors in 2007 after blood bank workers began screening for the disease.

"It's worse this year because we've been in drought for the past few years and people are really collecting that water so we've had a lot of mosquitoes all over town," said Susan Morris of the Wichita County Public Health District in Texas to KFDX.

"There are seven species of the kissing bug in Texas and we have one in this county," said Stephanie Fonville, a sanitarian in training at the health department.  

She added that, "It's spread through their feces, so once they bite you, they rub their abdomen on you and it can spread through their feces through the wound."