
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 28, 1990                   TAG: 9003280264
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: E-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RAHWAY, N.J.                                LENGTH: Short

HEARTWORM CHECK DUE FOR DOGS

In spring, a dog owner's thoughts turn to a new flea collar. They also should turn to heartworm prevention.

Heartworm disease is caused by the lowly mosquito and is potentially fatal. A pet should be tested for heartworms annually. If the dog is not infected, preventive medication should be started. If the dog is infected, treatment to remove the heartworms should begin at once.

Once a dog has been infected by a carrier mosquito, the heartworm larvae make their way to the dog's heart and pulmonary arteries. There they can grow to 14 inches long and damage the heart, lungs and other organs. Signs - fatigue, chronic cough and loss of appetite - generally do not appear until the disease is well advanced.

MSD Agvet, a division of Merck & Co. Inc. pharmaceuticals, estimates that less than half of the nation's pet dogs are tested by veterinarians annually for the disease.

by CNB