A bloodsucking insect known as Triatoma sanguisuga, or a "kissing bug," has been found in Delaware for the first time, public health officials said this week.

Triatomines, or kissing bugs, are known for feeding on animal and human blood during the night. They're sometimes referred to as kissing bugs because they like to bite humans on the face, specifically around the eyes or mouth.

According to a report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , a family in Kent County, Delaware, contacted the Delaware Division of Public Health and the Delaware Department of Agriculture in July 2018 after an unidentified insect bit a child's face while she was watching television.

"The parents were concerned about possible disease transmission from the insect," the report says.

The DDA's preliminary findings concluded it was a kissing bug that bit the child. These suspicions were confirmed by Texas A&M University’s Kissing Bug Citizen Science Program and the CDC. This is the first confirmed identification of a kissing bug in Delaware.

But why do public health officials worry about these creepy-crawlies? They sometimes carry a parasite known as Trypanosoma cruzi, or T. cruzi, which can cause Chagas disease. According to TAMU's kissing bug program, more than 50 percent of those little suckers submitted by the public from across Texas were infected with the parasite.

Chagas disease can strike humans, dogs and other mammals.