SESKStuff Everyone Should Know
SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/dog-heartworm-mosquito

How do dogs get heartworm?

Through the bite of an infected mosquito.

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  1. From eating infected grass
  2. From a mosquito bite ✔
  3. From another dog's sneeze

Why: A mosquito that bites an infected animal picks up baby worms, then passes them to the next pet it bites. Heartworm does not spread by contact between dogs.

Huh, didn't know that: Inside the mosquito, the baby worms take 10 to 14 days to become infective larvae.

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Why did the mosquito go to the dentist? To improve his bite!
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References

Answer: From a mosquito bite. A mosquito that bites an infected animal picks up baby worms, then passes them to the next pet it bites. Heartworm does not spread by contact between dogs.

  1. American Heartworm Society, Heartworm Basics www.heartwormsociety.org/pet-owner-resources/heartworm-basics
    When a mosquito bites and takes a blood meal from an infected animal, it picks up these baby worms.
    Checked 2026-10-10.

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