This article is part of HuffPosts Project Zero campaign, a yearlong series on neglected tropical diseases and efforts to fight them.

LOS ANGELES Pancha sits in her cramped living room and scoops her two little dogs into her lap. They cry when she leaves the house, she says, even for a few hours. But today theyre happy shes at home.

The 55-year-old, who asked that we not use her real name, is preparing for a trip to Bolivia, where she was born, to visit her ailing father. Hes very depressed, she tells HuffPost, and he cant walk around anymore, not even into his garden to tend his beloved fruit trees fig, avocado, pomegranate, peach.

His heart is weak, and excitement could be dangerous for him. Shes worried about this, she says, because she has bad news to tell him. She found out two years ago she has Chagas disease , an infection caused by a parasite that can live for decades inside organ tissue, usually the heart, silently doing damage that can cause sudden death. Her father has it, too.

Pancha asked HuffPost to keep her identity hidden because of the stigma associated with her illness. People are ignorant, she says.

Chagas is a deeply misunderstood disease that affects about 8 million people around the world , primarily in Latin America, and is responsible for 10,000 deaths a year, according to the World Health Organization. It is estimated that 300,000 people in the United States have it, per the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Chagas is not typically transmitted from person to person. The insect that spreads it is called the kissing bug , because it tends to bite people on the face, near the lips or eyes, while they sleep. Immediately after infection there may be swelling around the bite wound, along with flu-like symptoms that disappear after a short time. Thirty percent of those infected develop life-threatening complications years later for some its an enlarged heart or heart failure, for others its an enlarged esophagus or colon. For many, though, Chagas is asymptomatic. A massive heart attack might be the first clue the parasite is there at all.

Chagas is treatable, but not if the case is too advanced, as it was for Panchas father. Pancha was more fortunate: When diagnosed, she didnt yet have complications from the disease, so she was able to take pills that should kill the parasite. Nothing is certain with Chagas, though.