San Diego County reports first identified locally acquired Chagas disease case

San Diego County has issued a health alert reporting the county’s first identified locally acquired Chagas disease case, along with a chronic Chagas disease case.

The County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency posted the alert July 13, 2026, under the title “First Locally Acquired Chagas Case and Chronic Chagas Disease in San Diego County.” The notice is directed to the county’s medical and public-health community.

What the county has reported

The alert marks a local public-health surveillance development because Chagas disease is generally associated with travel or migration. County information indicates that the locally acquired case was identified through blood-donor screening.

The available indexed alert summary does not provide the patient’s age, residence, clinical condition or suspected exposure. It also does not identify a confirmed source of infection or establish broader community transmission in San Diego County.

Those distinctions matter: the county’s notice reports an identified locally acquired case, not evidence that the disease is widespread locally. The published summary also does not support conclusions about a particular insect, property or neighborhood connected to the infection.

Guidance for health professionals

San Diego County’s alert provides guidance for clinicians and public-health partners, according to the county’s notice index. The available summary does not spell out the alert’s testing criteria or other clinical details, so the county’s published record should be treated as the source for those instructions.

The county directs clinicians and public-health partners seeking additional information to contact the San Diego County Epidemiology Unit at 619-692-8499. The notice is an alert for health professionals and public-health partners; the indexed summary does not describe a new requirement or action for the general public.

Why the alert is significant

Identification through blood-donor screening makes the development relevant to disease surveillance, blood safety and vector-borne disease prevention. However, the county’s summary does not establish a risk to the blood supply beyond the documented screening-related identification.

The July 13 notice appears in the county’s current CAHAN medical and public-health alert index and in its 2026 archive. Other county notices listed in 2026 address cyclosporiasis, infant botulism, invasive meningococcal disease and West Nile virus surveillance, reflecting the range of issues monitored through the county’s health-alert system.