Heartworm incidence in pets is increasing. John McCall, MS, PhD, Department of Infectious Diseases at the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, says it’s time for a new approach – fight the vector, or mosquitoes, as well as heartworms. Ceva Animal Health began an extensive campaign to educate the veterinarian community on McCall’s groundbreaking research findings. More information is available at www.fightheartwormnow.com or the hashtag #fightheartworm.
“This independent investigation uncovers an important benefit of the mosquito repellency feature of Vectra® 3D,” says Elizabeth Hodgkins, technical services director for Ceva Animal Health. “This research shows that Vectra® 3D can provide an extra layer of defense against heartworm disease, by repelling and killing mosquitoes that may transmit the disease.
Source: CEVA, US, March 7, 2016.
The American Heartworm Society (AHS) continues to recommend year-round protection to prevent the serious and often deadly consequences of heartworm disease,” says C. Thomas (Tom) Nelson, DVM, AHS executive board member and co-author of the society’s guidelines for the prevention, diagnosis and management of heartworm infection. “We also see the enormous benefit of a multimodal approach by combining a macrocyclic lactone and a topical ectoparasiticide with mosquito repellent properties and efficacy in killing the vector.”
INSIGHTS: CEVA’s Double Defense strategy is additive, not competitive. The objective is to:
- treat microfilaria inside the dog with traditional heartworm preventatives.
- remove the risk of a mosquito biting and killing it if it does bite using a macrocyclic lactone as found in Vectra® 3D.