Revert back to pre-pandemic heartworm practicesOctober 29, 2020While the COVID pandemic is not yet over, for veterinarians, it continues to be “business as usual” for heartworm prevention.
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Overland Park, Kans, tops list of heartworm cities for MarchApril 17, 2019According to Companion Animal Parasite Council's (CAPC's) top 10 list, Overland Park, Kans, was the number one city for heartworms in March. CAPC says annual testing is more important than ever to ensure dogs and cats are protected no matter where they live or travel. It also recommends year-round heartworm protection. "It takes just one heartworm-infected dog in an area to become a reservoir of infection, increasing the number of infected mosquitoes and ultimately spreading the heartworm parasite to unprotected dogs and cats," says CAPC board member, Michael Yabsley, MS, PhD, FRES, professor in the department of population health, College of Veterinary Medicine and Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia. According to CAPC, national frequency rates for heartworm have increased each of the last five years and are now up 20 percent from 2013 levels. The following U.S. cities have the highest percentage increase in positive heartworm tests for March: 1) Overland Park, Kans. 2) San Francisco, Calif. 3) Laredo, Tex. 4) Thousand Oaks, Calif. 5) Salinas, Calif. 6) Oceanside, Calif. 7) Clarksville, Tenn. 8) Portland, Ore. 9) Providence, R.I. 10) Jersey City, …
Heartgard producer announces heartworm awareness campaignApril 16, 2018 Merial, now a part of Boehringer Ingelheim (BI), announced a multifaceted campaign to assist veterinarians and clinic teams in promoting the consistent use of heartworm preventive medications for their patients. The announcement follows a recent survey conducted by the company, which showed a decreased use of year-round heartworm preventive measures and a corresponding increase in instances of the disease. "After years of steady progress in reducing the numbers of heartworm-positive cases in pets, a concerning backward slide has occurred over the past few years," said Stephen Jones, DVM, past president of the American Heartworm Society. "It is commendable that the Heartgard Plus team has recognized the urgency of the situation and is moving quickly and aggressively to address this challenge." Through the initiative, Merial's team will engage with both veterinarians and pet owners to listen to the challenges they face in starting and keeping their patients/pets on heartworm preventive medications for year-round protection. From this data, best practices for encouraging consistent usage will be determined and shared with the animal care community. The first component of the campaign, Take the Paw Pledge, launches this month, with veterinarians across the country asking their clients to commit …
