Paper On Heartworm Mosquitos

History
Heartworms are a parasitic nematode of mammals and have first been observed in Italy in 1626 (3). Later the parasite was introduced to the Americas by European immigrants leading to the earliest recorded heartworm finding in the United States in 1847 published in The Western Journal of Medicine and Surgery (3,5). In 1995 the intracellular Gram-negative bacterial endosymbiont Wolbachia, belonging to the order Rickettsiales, was identified to reside in the heartworms tissue (4).Today heartworm infections have been reported in all states except Alaska and the number of incidents are increasing at an alarming rate (5).
Risk Factors
Several types of mosquitos have been identified as the vector and intermediate host of dirofilaria immitis, including Culex pipiens, Aedes albopictus, Anopheles maculipenis, and Coquilletidia richiardii, allowing the parasite to mature to an infective stage within the mosquito to then infect new hosts via their bite (6). Climate change and urbanization have allowed mosquitos to expand their territory, while global transport of animals has enabled the parasite to infect mosquitos in previously heartworm free areas (5). Under normal circumstances the development of the heartworm larvae within the mosquito is arrested below 57°F limiting the time of infections to the summer month (5). However, in addition to providing irrigation systems as habitat for mosquitos urbanized areas act as heat island extending the time frame of possible dirofilaria immitis transmission significantly (5). As can be seen if figure 1, showing the geographical distribution of heartworm incidents in the U.S. in 2007 , areas with hot and humid climate have the highest number of heartworm infections as they provide favorable co...

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...dering the additional cost of treatment of already infected dogs ranging from $500 and $1500 (3). This economic importance does not only matter to pet owners but also to the people living in developing countries where different filarial diseases are commonly leading to river blindness (3). Even though, the pharmaceutical industry does not have an incentive to invest in drug development for underdeveloped countries out of financial reasons, incentives on development of heartworm drugs and vaccines for pets are tremendous (3). This way research in the field of Dirofilaria immitis is encouraged and may not only benefit pets but also improve living conditions in developing countries. Until further progress is made, veterinarians should focus on education of clients regarding preventative treatment to limit further spread of Dirofilaria immitis by reducing its habitat.