The bad news: Heartworm disease can be fatal to dogs, cats, and ferrets. The good news: You can protect your pet from this disease.

The American Heartworm Society and Companion Animal Parasite Council recommend 2 components for diagnosing heartworm infection in small animal patients: antigen detection assay and microscopic identification of Dirofilaria immitis microfilaria. The antigen test is generally considered the more sensitive test, but studies estimate that 6.0% to 38.7% of microfilaria-positive samples produce negative antigen test results.

Dr. Stephen Jones takes us on a pictorial journey of the gross effects of heartworm infections in veterinary patients.

Warnings and reports about pets infected with Dirofilaria immitis in the United States are not unusual. In fact, canine heartworms were first discovered on the southern US coast in 1856.¹ What should be making headlines is the fact that despite the preventive medications that have been widely available for decades, the incidence of heartworm disease continues to rise across the nation.

From DVM360.com: The American Heartworm Society (AHS) has announced a new set of best practices for minimizing heartworm transmission in relocated dogs, including recommendations for testing, treatment and prevention, that were developed in collaboration with the Association of Shelter Veterinarians (ASV), according to a society release.

Clients simply aren’t getting the message when it comes to preventing fleas, ticks, and in particular heartworm.

AHS symposia, proceedings bring heartworm education to veterinary professionals.

The American Heartworm Society (AHS) is redoubling efforts to bring the latest heartworm information directly to veterinarians and veterinary nurses via scientific symposia and proceedings.

It takes just one bite from a mosquito infected with heartworm larvae to jeopardize your pet’s health and welfare. Heartworm disease is often debilitating and can be fatal if not treated. That’s why the stakes are too high to listen to myths like only dogs are susceptible to heartworms and heartworm disease is just a summer issue.

The treatment of adult heartworm (Dirofilaria immitis) infection in dogs has changed significantly since the days when veterinarians’ only option was injectable thiacetarsamide sodium. First, the introduction of melarsomine dihydrochloride in the mid-1990s revolutionized the treatment of adult heartworm infection by providing superior efficacy via intramuscular administration.¹ The next great leap forward in heartworm treatment came with the discovery that some filarial worms harbor a type of bacteria, Wolbachia, and that elimination of these bacteria proved beneficial to the animal and reduced the complications of disease.²

In the Literature
Serrano-Parreño B, Carretón E, Caro-Vadillo A, FalcónCordón S, Falcón-Cordón Y, Montoya-Alonso JA. Pulmonary hypertension in dogs with heartworm before and after the adulticide protocol recommended by the American Heartworm Society. Vet Parasitol. 2017;236:34-37.

FROM THE PAGE … Pulmonary hypertension is one of the most serious complications that can occur in dogs with heartworm disease. The inflammatory response can increase during adulticide therapy as worms die and an increased amount of antigen is released.