School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Melbourne Veterinary School, Faculty of Science, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Aust Vet J. 2024 Dec;102(12):626-629. doi: 10.1111/avj.13379. Epub 2024 Oct 12.
The causative agent of canine heartworm disease, Dirofilaria immitis, requires specific temperature conditions to mature within its mosquito vector, and therefore (re-)infect a canid host. Suitable temperature conditions are not continuously met for locations where most (>97%) Australians and their pet dogs live. The length of the disruption in the transmissibility of D. immitis varies greatly across Australia, and to some degree, between years. We developed an online dashboard 'Transmission Tracker - Dirofilaria' that processes near real-time temperature records across Australia and allows users to enquire about historical and current weather suitability for canine heartworm transmission at any Australian postcode of their interest. This information allows veterinarians to access when, and for how long, heartworm may be transmitted at a specific location, assess the associated risk of infection and advise on a patient-dependent dirofilariosis prevention plan for their canine patients and guardians. Our dashboard is publicly accessible at: https://heartworm-mapping.adelaide.edu.au/shiny/.
犬心丝虫病的病原体犬恶丝虫需要特定的温度条件在其蚊子媒介中成熟，从而（重新）感染犬宿主。大多数（>97%）澳大利亚人和他们的宠物犬居住的地方并不具备持续满足这种适宜温度条件的环境。在澳大利亚，犬恶丝虫传播中断的时间长短差异很大，在一定程度上也因年份而异。我们开发了一个在线仪表板“传播追踪器-犬恶丝虫”，该仪表板处理澳大利亚各地的近实时温度记录，并允许用户查询任何他们感兴趣的澳大利亚邮政编码的历史和当前天气是否适合犬心丝虫传播。这些信息使兽医能够了解在特定地点何时以及持续多长时间可能传播心丝虫，评估相关的感染风险，并为他们的犬患者及其监护人提供基于患者的心丝虫病预防计划建议。我们的仪表板可在以下网址公开获取：https://heartworm-mapping.adelaide.edu.au/shiny/。
