ˈshägəs(ə̇z)-, -ag- noun
Usage: usually capitalized C
Etymology: after Carlos Chagas died 1934 Braz. physician who described it
: a trypanosomiasis of tropical America marked by prolonged high fever, edema, and enlargement of spleen, liver, and lymph nodes and caused by a flagellate ( Trypanosoma cruzi ) which is transmitted by reduviid bugs and occurs in flagellated form in the blood and as leishmanial reproductive forms in tissue (as heart muscle)