What are heartworms, in dogs?

Question

Ok, so both of my puppies have heartworms...
I know that they get it from blood transfusions... like from other dogs, when a mosquito bites one infected dog, it will infect other dogs too...

I was just wondering... how did the heartworms start?
I mean, cancer, aids, asthma... all of these diseases, didnt pop up until the last two centuries...

How did heartworms start originally...
if anyone knows.. shed some light please...

Answer 1

I don't know how but I know the first recorded case was back in 1847 in a medical book. It started in the tropics (more mosquito's) and has since migrated all over and infects many dogs and other animals. Some people think foxes and other animals brought to the US, for sport and rare pets, carried the disease and helped spread it to other areas. Other than that I'm not sure, maybe someone else will know more specifically where heartworms started.

Answer 2

Heartworm are parasites that mature in the chambers of the heart and block major arteries, causing heart failure. It is hard to eliminate and can be fatal. How does heartworm begin, you say? Well, this all begins with a single mosquito bite! The mosquito bites an infected dog and picks up some microfilaria from the blood meal. The microfilaria live about two weeks in the salivary glands of the mosquito. Now is that a tiny worm or what? When the mosquito bites a dog or cat it punches a little hole with some pinchers. It then releases some saliva that prevents the blood from clotting. As the mosquito sits back sipping at the blood some microfilaria find their way into the wound. The microfilaria then begin to migrate through the tissue following veins to the heart. As the larva migrate they molt and continue growing in size ( since insects have a rigid exterior they must molt or shed the exterior to grow in size). This process takes about six months to reach adult size in the heart and begin giving birth to offspring, the microfilaria. The process then can continue. In the dog we can treat heartworms but it is very risky and expensive. Since treatment is risky or even fatal - Prevention is the best course of action. If you are in an area with mosquitos your dogs and cats should be taking heartworm preventative. But, you should prevent this from growing -- IMMEDIATELY! This is not good for your dog!!!

Answer 3

Heartworm has always been around. It was not until recent times that people were concerned enough about the dog to test and treat for it, let alone spend hundreds yearly preventing it.
It took the development of a fast and good test to detect it also!!!!!!! Before the modern test kits, you had to send the blood out to a lab and wait for the results and it was quite expensive.

Answer 4

your dog gets bitten by a mosquito it affects the dogs tissue and travels to the heart hence heart worms

Answer 5

Good question, sorry I don't know the answer but I will be watching to see what others say.