Canine Heterobilharzia - The Parker Strip

[EarpRider]

Just a heads up to those of you that have pups swiming in Parker, my boy tested POSITIVE yesterday for Heterobilharzia.
He swims mostly in front of our place at Rivershore Estates. He has ZERO symptoms, healthy 3 1/2 year old Lab.
He goes to the Vet next week for liver x-ray, blood work and then he will start a very strong dewormer and antibiotic.

 

[OCMerrill]

Thanks for this info. Our Aussie wont freely swim but still likes to wade in about chest high.

Were at Emerald when at the river and that's maybe 2 miles up from you. Not good and yet another concern for dogs.

Best wishes for your pup's health.

 

[PRIMO]

Head and face out of water at the Parker Strip /
With all of the Septics Upstream Plus what Havasu Dumps in the Water / It is a No Brainer
Learned the Hard Way ......

 

[EarpRider]

I took my boy to the Vet in Havasu, Novak, yesterday.

His chest xay shows no signs of any liver damage, his blood work and urinalysis are all normal.

Novak has had 5 cases of Heterobilharzia, prior to my dog.
1 from a dog who swims on The Strip, 2 from dogs that swim south of Headgate, and 2 from dogs that swim north of Topock.

 

[FishSniper]

Just a heads up to those of you that have pups swiming in Parker, my boy tested POSITIVE yesterday for Heterobilharzia.
He swims mostly in front of our place at Rivershore Estates. He has ZERO symptoms, healthy 3 1/2 year old Lab.
He goes to the Vet next week for liver x-ray, blood work and then he will start a very strong dewormer and antibiotic.
View attachment 1457082 View attachment 1457083

What caused u to test him if no symptoms ?

 

[DaytonaBabe]

Thanks for this info. Our Aussie wont freely swim but still likes to wade in about chest high.

Were at Emerald when at the river and that's maybe 2 miles up from you. Not good and yet another concern for dogs.

Best wishes for your pup's health.

Just as a heads up, the liver fluke can be contracted through their skin. It isn't limited to just being ingested through the mouth.

If you join this Facebook group, there is a ton of very helpful information. The brilliant minds at Texas A&M are conducting a study to learn more about this liver fluke and you can request to get your dog tested for free. They are severely backed up due to the large amount of requests for testing, but they're working to try to find a preventative for this. The more information they have, the better, so I'd encourage everyone to get their dogs tested.

I tested our two Aussies through this program a few months ago and, fortunately, they tested negative.

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[DaytonaBabe]

This is a podcast that two of the lead veterinarians at Texas A&M did recently to discuss the parasite. I found it to be extremely informative.

 

[EarpRider]

What caused u to test him if no symptoms ?

I found the Drake Project Facebook page (Drake is a dog that died from this parasite. )
And I read about mix results from dogs on The Parker Strip, since my boy swims there almost daily I had his poop tested.