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

Heartworm is a horrific pet disease in Doña Ana County, but preventable

Southern New Mexico is facing more insecticide-resistant mosquitoes, and epidemiologist Michael Landen with the state Department of Health recently warned, "with climate change, New Mexico will increasingly be seeing mosquito-borne disease."

3 Super-Simple Heartworm Prevention Tips

Heartworm is a nasty, potentially fatal disease caused by parasitic worms living in an animal’s heart and blood vessels. It’s a bad deal. Fortunately, Banfield Pet Hospital’s 2016 State of Pet Health Report found a 33.1 percent decline in the number of confirmed heartworm cases in their hospitals between 2011 and 2016. Woo! This trend has a lot to do with proactive prevention on the part of pet owners. Here are three simple things you can do to protect your dog from this horrible disease.  

Can Your Zip Code Make Your Dog More Susceptible to Heartworm?

All 50 states have had confirmed cases of heartworm since the disease’s discovery back in 1856. However, since mosquitoes are responsible for transferring the parasite from dog to dog, some areas do pose a higher risk than others.

According to the American Heartworm Society, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas and Tennessee are the top five worst states when it comes to heartworm diagnosis, in that order. In fact, in a 2016 AHS Incidence Survey, 10 percent of canines in Mississippi tested positive for the parasite. That’s…a lot.

Heartworm can be deadly for dogs. Here's how to protect your pet.

FARMINGTON — Local animal shelters are reporting a high number of heartworm cases this year, but in Farmington the rise was traced to a group of dogs that came from another state.

Aztec Animal Shelter Director Tina Roper said five dogs at her shelter have tested positive for heartworm this year.

"It's a little high," she said. "We don't usually see this many so soon."

Farmington Regional Animal Shelter currently has nine heartworm positive dogs and recently had one adopted.

“We usually have anywhere from two to four at a time,” Shelter Director Stacie Voss said.

Get to the heart of the matter

All the drugs you need to fight heartworm are at your disposal. Now it’s time to educate and advocate.

Dr. Larry Mangum, Veterinarian Appalachian Animal Hospital

April is National Heartworm Awareness Month

Conscientious pet owners understand they must be on the lookout for a host of issues that can affect the health and well-being of their pets. One such issue is heartworm disease.

What is heartworm disease?

 

Preparing for Mosquito Season, Heartworm in Pets

As temperatures grow warmer, Westside Veterinary Clinic and the American Heartworm Society (AHS) want every pet owner to be prepared for mosquito season and the risk that heartworm disease carries for pets. 

 

Which cats need heartworm prevention? All of them

The heartworm disease landscape isn't what it used to be, which is why it’s so important for the veterinary field to get on the same updated page and prioritize prevention for cats.

 

Ardisana: Heartworms are a threat to dogs, cats and ferrets

Spring is in the air and, unfortunately, so are the mosquitoes.

We all hate the red welts and itching of a mosquito bite, but even worse is the possibility of disease transmission. Most of us know that mosquitoes can transmit diseases to people such as Zika virus, West Nile virus and malaria among others, but did you know that the mosquito is the vector for heartworm disease transmission in dogs and cats?

 

Heartworm: A deadly, but preventable, disease in pets

BOARDMAN, Ohio (WKBN) -- Mahoning County animal activists are warning about the dangers of heartworm in pets. A dog named Marnie had to be euthanized on Saturday after she was diagnosed with a severe case of heartworm.

According to the American Heartworm Society, the disease is characterized by footlong worms that live in the infected animal's heart, lungs and other blood vessels. It's a blood-borne disease that causes lung disease, heart failure and damage to other organs. The disease can be spread by mosquitos.

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!