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tvpjournal.com | July/august 2015 | Today's VeTerinary PracTice aHs HearTWorM HoTLine Peer reviewed 83 and less successful using traditional methods employed in canine medicine, due in part to lack of microfilaremia to aid in early detection of infection and higher incidence of fatalities post treatment. • Further studies are needed to answer many questions with regard to heartworm infection, diagnosis, and treatment in ferrets. • The aHs recommends year-round prevention in ferrets housed in heartworm endemic areas. aHs = american Heartworm society; HWd = heartworm disease References 1. Present day ferret achievements. available at all-about-ferrets .com, 2015. 2. antinoff n. clinical observations in ferrets with naturally occurring heartworm disease, and preliminary evaluation of treatment with ivermectin with and without melarsomine. Proc Heartworm Symp AHS, 2001, pp 45-47. 3. Mccall JW. diroflariasis in the domestic ferret. Clin Tech Small Anim Pract 1998; 13(2):109-112. 4. Blair Ls. effcacy of ivermectin against third-stage Diroflaria immitis larvae in ferrets and dogs. Res Vet Sci 1982; 33(3):386-387. 5. Kemmerer dW. Heartworm disease in the domestic ferret. Proc Heartworm Symp AHS, 1998, pp 87-89. 6. campell Wc, Blair Ls. Diroflaria immitis: experimental infections in the ferret (Mustela putorius furo). J Parasitol 1978; Feb 64(1):119-122. 7. supakorndej P, Lewis re, Mccall JW, et al. radiographic and angiographic evaluations of ferrets experimentally infected with Diroflaria immitis. Vet Radiol Ultrasound 1995; 36(1):23-29. 8. Bradbury c, saunders aB, Heatley JJ, et al. Transvenous heartworm extraction in a ferret with caval syndrome. JAAHA 2010; 46(1):31-35. 9. Patterson MM, Fox JG, eberhard ML. Parasitic diseases. in Fox JG, Marini rP (eds): Biology and Diseases of the Ferret, 3rd ed. Wiley-Blackwell, 2014, pp 553-572. 10. Mccall JW, Genchi c, Kramer LH, et al. Heartworm disease in animals and humans. Adv Parasitol 2008; 66:193-285. 11. cottrell dK. Use of moxidectin (ProHeart 6) as a heartworm adulticide in 4 ferrets. Exotic DVM 2004; 5:9-12. BianCa ZaFFarano Bianca Zaffarano, DVM, is a graduate of, and now a clinician at, Iowa State University College of Veterinary Med - icine, where she is the Primary Care/ Exotics service leader. She is also the Director of the Wildlife Care Clinic. Dr. Zaffarano has over 23 years of experi - ence in exotic companion animal med- icine, having practiced and owned her own clinic in Lexington, Kentucky, for many years. July/august 2015 | Today's VeTerinary PracTice The Back Page continued from page 84 If a clinic identifes a patient with this strain of CIV, what procedures and precautions should be taken? The diffcult situation with ciV is, with an individual patient, it is not possible to accurately determine by clinical signs whether an infection is due to ciV or a different respiratory pathogen. if a patient's history includes a recent stay at a kennel where multiple dogs have similar signs, this strongly indicates a ciV infection. Handling a dog with suspected ciV infection should be done under standard "universal precautions" for any infectious disease possibility. if one has standard practices to inactivate canine parvovirus in the clinic setting, these are more than adequate to handle infuenza virus. Transmission by fomites is a real possibility, so changing gloves and outerwear between patient visits should be a routine practice. one should also remember that dogs will be shedding infuenza virus prior to the onset of signifcant clinical signs. Thus, a patient in for a "well" check could be incubating and shedding the virus. How can veterinarians respond to clients' fears about boarding or doggy day care risks? This is a diffcult question because curbing the spread of ciV largely depends on the ethical behavior of dog owners due to the lack of data on the protection provided by available H3n8 vaccines. no one should bring a pet to a boarding kennel or day care center if the animal is not behaving normally. Fortunately, infuenza virus infections in mammals do not produce a chronic infection state (ie, this virus is shed for a brief period of time and then the animal is free from infection). in theory, the epizootic could be stopped by preventing all dog movement for several weeks. While this is not practical, one would hope that responsible pet owners would restrict movement of sick dogs. Suggested Reading Supakorndej P, McCall JW, Lewis RE, et al. Biology, diagnosis, and prevention of heartworm infection in ferrets. Proc Heartworm Symp AHS , 1992, pp 59-69.