Researchers are warning that a parasite that can kill dogs has been discovered in states that it has not otherwise been seen, according to a study from the University of California, Riverside.
While studying the Heterobiharzia americana parasite, commonly known as liver fluke, researchers discovered it in the Colorado River that runs through Southern California, according to USA Today.
Previously, the parasite had mainly been seen in Texas, with some studies having found it in Louisiana and North Carolina.
The worm can cause an infection that impacts the liver and intestines in dogs. The worm gets into the dog’s intestinal lining, matures and reproduces. Then its eggs migrate to the dog’s lungs, spleen, liver and heart, and in some cases leads to euthanasia.
“Dogs can die from this infection, so we are hoping to raise public awareness that it’s there,” said UCR nematology professor Adler Dillman in a statement. “If you’re swimming in the Colorado River with them, your pets are in peril.”
According to researchers, snails transmit the deadly worm, and Dillman said that his team collected more than 2,000 snails from the riverbanks on the Colorado.
“We actually found two species of snails that can support H. americana in the river in Blythe, and we found both snails actively shedding this worm,” Dillman said, according to U.S. News and World Report. “Not only was it a surprise to find H. americana, we also did not know that the snails were present here.”
Symptoms tend to occur gradually in dogs and include loss of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, profound weight loss and signs of liver disease. Your dog needs to be seen by a veterinarian if it shows any of those symptoms, especially after swimming in a river or lake.
The parasite is not capable of causing such infection in humans.
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