Articles: Heartworm disease

Experts suggests that because most of the country experienced a cold and rainy start to Spring, mosquito numbers had been down some in many places. However, that’s changed as the buzzers are back and with a vengeance.  For the fourth year in a row, the Companion Animal Parasite Council (CAPC) forecasts heartworm infection prevalence to be…

Whenever my time slot has changed at WGN radio or something happens – my first go-to guest, and the person has appeared over 22 years more on my shows than any other is Dr. Sheldon Rubin. So, for my first day in our new sparkling new studio, HEAR Dr. Shelly Rubin on WGN radio. Dr. Rubin’s…

Indeed April showers may bring flowers, but it also brings mosquitoes – and this season experts suggest will exceed a “usual number” due to most of the nation experiencing an extremely wet Spring. Listen HERE to my conversation on my national Steve Dale’s Pet World radio show with Dr. Nora Grant, technical services manager at…

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) now says, illnesses from mosquito, tick, and flea bites have tripled in the U.S., with more than 640,000 cases reported during the 13 years from 2004 through 2016.  Nine new germs spread by mosquitoes and ticks were discovered or introduced into the United States during this time. These findings…

Veterinary parasitologist Dr. Michael Dryden explains how heartworm in dogs occurs HERE Steve Dale’s Pet World national radio show. Heartworm is delivered to dogs by various species of mosquitoes who bite, and deliver a microfilaria, which is the early stage of heartworm. The “baby heartworm” makes it’s way through a dog’s blood stream to the pulmonary…

I’m thinking about mosquitoes that carry heartworm, so I talk with “Dr. Flea,” veterinary parasitologist Dr. Michael Dryden, HERE on my WGN Radio Show, Steve Dale’s Pet World. As the weather warms, fleas are hopping into our lives, and mosquitoes begin to buzz about. The Centers for Disease Control has been all about directly dealing with…

It is truly an honor to talk with the CEO of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), Dr. Janet Donlin, about preventive care for pets on WGN Radio. Listen HERE as Dr. Donlin talks about catching illness earlier. And, today there are more tools to do that, like an inexpensive blood test called SDMA, which identifies…

Mosquitoes just need a bit of water for reproduction. Even in dry, desert-like climates, like Las Vegas, they’ve found ways to use human activity to help them reproduce in hotel fountains or suburban retention ponds (mosquitoes need to lay eggs in water, so even rivers, ponds, puddles, or bird feeders will suffice). The pesky critters…

Health officials say the West Nile virus has been detected in mosquitoes in Washington, Illinois, throughout much of California, and even in Las Vegas, where mosquitoes would seem to be less common. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), nearly 44,000 cases of the West Nile virus have been reported in the U.S. since 1999. Of…

Warm weather, rain, and humidity: Mosquitoes love it all, and the flying bugs are more than annoying, they carry (among other things) potentially deadly heartworm disease, which they can spread to dogs. On my national Steve Dale’s Pet World, hear distinguished professor of veterinary parasitology at Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine Dr. Byron Blagburn talk…