Is heartworm disease contagious to humans?
Is heartworm disease contagious to humans?
Allison Williams, DVM says:
January 07th, 2009 at 11:10 AM
No - heartworm disease is a contracted from mosquitoes. Dogs and cats are the likely definitive host for this disease and they are especially susceptible if they are not on heartworm prevention (heartgard, revolution, sentinel). Even indoor cats/dogs are at risk. As far as humans go, it is extremely rare for a person to get the disease. Cases of human heartworm disease have been documented, (transmitted from mosquitoes an not from cats/dogs) but again, you can never contract the disease from your pet.
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