info@heartwormsociety.orgCartSign In
dirofilaria.body.blackred.duo.jpg

In the News

The American Heartworm Society is the leading resource on heartworm disease, and our mission is to lead the veterinary profession and the public in the understanding of this serious disease. Every year, hundreds of stories are written on the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of heartworm, as well as on the plight of affected pets. These stories are an important way of reaching both veterinary professionals and pet owners with information they need to know about heartworm disease.

The American Heartworm Society is led by a board of directors comprised of veterinarians and specialists in the fields of veterinary parasitology and internalmedicine. As leaders in the fight against heartworm disease, they are available as resources and authors of related stories.

Members of the media are encouraged to contact the American Heartworm Society for information, visuals and interviews about heartworm disease. Please contact Sue O’Brien at Obriensuek@gmail.com. This email is for media inquiries only. All other inquiries, please email: info@heartwormsociety.org.

 


 

News & Alerts

The Back Page: Veterinary Viewpoints The American Heartworm Society Looks Toward the Future An Interview with Dr. Christopher Rehm

Christopher J. Rehm, Sr, DVM, is the incoming president of the American Heartworm Society (AHS). Dr. Rehm graduated from Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1982 and started Rehm Animal Clinic a year later in Mobile, Alabama. The clinic has grown into four AAHA-certified hospitals in two Alabama counties, employing 13 veterinarians and more than 70 support staff. With a clinic slogan of Caring for pets and people since 1983, Rehm Animal Clinic (rehmclinics.com) has won numerous Best Clinic and readers’ choice awards from local newspapers. In addition to practicing veterinary medicine, Dr. Rehm has written a syndicated pet column and hosted live public service spots and serves as a speaker at veterinary meetings.

Complexity of Heartworm Prevention, Diagnosis and Treatment Detailed at 15th Triennial Heartworm Symposium

American Heartworm Society also announces new officers, board members

NEW ORLEANS (September 22, 2016) — Changes in climate, heartworm vectors, diagnostic challenges, prevention practices and treatment protocols all were cited during during the 2016 American Heartworm Society (AHS) Triennial Symposium as reasons why the persistence of heartworm disease continues to confound veterinarians, researchers and pharmaceutical companies.

Heartworm disease is a silent killer, veterinarian says

SAN ANTONIO - Veterinarians call it a silent killer and in San Antonio the chances of a pet being infected with heartworms is higher than most places around the country.

"Probably about 90 percent of our stray dogs in San Antonio are probably infected with heartworms," veterinary technician Crystal Tarr said.

 

Reasons for how heartworm meds are dispensed

Dr. Johns,

My poodle is on Trifexis. What is the logic behind requiring a blood test once a year before selling me this med?

I can buy a six months supply after the test and go back in six months and get six more months but after that they require another blood test to be sure that he does not have heart worms!

Symposium to examine heartworm resistance, heat treatment of blood samples, multimodal prevention

AHS announces the hottest topics on tap for the 15th Triennial Heartworm Symposium scheduled for September in New Orleans.

 

Mosquitoes: Everything You Need to Know to Stay Safe This Summer

Let’s start with the good news: Not all mosquitoes bite. “Female mosquitos need certain proteins found in blood to grow their eggs,” says Joseph Conlon, technical advisor, American Mosquito Control Association. Since males don’t produce eggs, they don’t bite.

 

Zika and More: 5 Diseases Spread by Mosquitoes

Here’s a brief look at the diseases that some types of mosquitos can spread in some parts of the world.

ZIKA

Who is affected Specific numbers are hard to come by, but cases have been reported in more than 36 countries in South America, Mexico, the Pacific Islands and the Caribbean since last spring. As of mid-May, 544 people living in the U.S. have acquired Zika by traveling to an affected area.

 

Alert! Heartworm Disease Increasing in Dogs and Cats in LA ... Wildlife and Humans Also at Risk

ANIMAL WATCH-Heartworm disease is a serious infection that results in severe lung disease, heart failure, other organ damage, and death in pets--mainly dogs--but also cats, coyotes, ferrets, wolves, sea lions, seals and other animals. And, occasionally it infects humans. The worms mature into adults, mate, and produce offspring while living inside the heart, lungs, and associated blood vessels of an infected animal.

 

Heartworm prevention: The questionable zero mosquito factor

Even areas with fewer mosquitos can be hotbeds of heartworm infection.

Q. We don’t see a lot of mosquitoes in my practice area. Is it really necessary to push prevention?
A. Veterinarians often refer to their locales as being “endemic” or “nonendemic” for heartworm. For those in many of the Western and Mountain states, the assumption is that if heartworm historically hasn’t been a problem in the region, there’s no reason to recommend yearly testing or heartworm prevention now. I moved to Phoenix—which is in a supposedly nonendemic region less than 18 months ago. During that time, I’ve performed several surgeries for heartworm caval syndrome on dogs that had never left the Phoenix area.

AHS Heartworm Hotline Coming to You from the American Heartworm Society

While heartworm education is a year-round focus of the American Heartworm Society (AHS), many veterinary practices put extra emphasis on heartworm prevention and education in the spring, especially since April is National Heartworm Awareness Month. Therefore, it’s a good time to consider the many resources available to veterinary practices from the AHS.

Join AHS

Join the leading association on Heartworm education and prevention today!

Already a Member? Sign in here.

Membership Details

The colors are changing but your clients’ heartworm prevention programs shouldn’t. To help spice up your client outreach programs this fall, the AHS has created a new set of posters you can print or post on your social pages.

To keep this message front and center with your clients, we’re sharing a set of new posters you can print OR post on your Facebook or Instagram page.

  • To save or print a poster, just click on the image below, then click on the “download” button and save the PDF file.
  • To save a poster for use on your social pages, simply open the downloaded poster, then right click on the file and follow the menu instructions to save the file as a JPEG image.

For more client tools, be sure to visit the Resource Center. And if you don’t already, make sure you’re sharing our Facebook and Instagram posts!