Kissing bug blood sample being taken from a giraffe
(Photo courtesy www.bbc.co.uk) 
Wildlife continues to make a revival in medical diagnostics and treatment – leeches are back in favor for blood letting and wound management along with maggots for cleaning wounds.  Now we have blood sucking bugs being used for blood collection.
Kissing bugs are being used to collect blood from zoo animals in a pilot project underway at two London zoos.  This method has been used to successfully collect blood samples from a hippo, cheetah, giraffe, elephant and white rhino. The Kissing bug gets its label from silently and painlessly collecting blood from a human victim’s lips and eyelids.
The …read more