Every 3 years the American Heartworm Society gathers data to show the impact of heartworm disease on the United States. Even if heartworms do not appear to be a significant risk in your local area, traveling with your pet to an area where heartworm disease is more prevalent can put your fur baby at risk. Taking into account the spread of wildlife that are hosts for heartworm disease, such as foxes, coyotes and wolves, you can see that heartworm disease can be spread easier than you realize.
Mosquitoes can also travel long distances thereby spreading disease, in addition, pets that are translocated from one area to another can bring heartworm disease into areas where it had previously not been a problem - an example of this is following Hurricane Katrina, when 250,000 pets were relocated.
The fact is heartworm disease HAS been diagnosed in all 50 states and unfortunately, risk factors are impossible to predict. Remember, it takes only 1 mosquito bite to infect your pet. The American Heartworm Society advocates for the "Think 12" campaign - test your pet every 12 months and use heartworm prevention for all 12 months of the year.
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