While heartworm is a serious and potentially deadly disease, it is, fortunately, also preventable and often treatable
While once considered a disease limited to the southern United States, heartworm infections have now been confirmed in all 50 states. Canines, both the pet dog and some wild canids like the coyote, fox, and wolf, are considered the definitive hosts. But this parasitic, potentially deadly roundworm in the genera Dirofilaria, can also infect cats, ferrets, and other mammal species, such as raccoons, bears, sea lions, and, in rare cases, humans.
