MODERATE INJURIES AND WERE ALL TAKEN TO AN AREA HOSPITAL. >>> THEY SAY KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. AND FOR DOG OWNERS WE JUST LEARNED A LITTLE MORE. THERE IS A PARASITE THAT HAS MADE ITS WAY TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. WE NOW KNOW HOW YOU COULD AVOID THIS PARASITE, AND WE NOW KNOW WHERE IT COMES FROM. TONIGHT WE SPOKE WITH THE SCIENTIST WHO MADE THE DISCOVERY THAT COULD SAVE YOUR PET'S LIFE. >> Reporter: IN THE PAST FEW YEARS CLOSE TO A DOZEN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA DOGS BECAME SICK AND ONE DIED FROM A MYSTERIOUS INFECTION. MYSTERIOUS BECAUSE -- >> WE'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO HAVE IT IN CALIFORNIA. THIS IS SOMETHING THAT'S IN TEXAS AND FURTHER EAST IN THE SOUTH. >> Reporter: ENTER ADLER DILLMAN, A PROFESSOR AT UC RIVERSIDE TURNED PET DETECTIVE. DILLMAN FIRST MADE AN IMPORTANT DETERMINATION. ALL OF THE ILL DOGS HAD BEEN SWIMMING IN THE SAME PLACE WITHIN TWO MONTHS OF THEIR DIAGNOSIS. >> AND THAT LED US TO A LITTLE CITY CALLED BLYTHE IN RIVERSIDE COUNTY ON THE ARIZONA-CALIFORNIA BORDER RIGHT WHERE THE COLORADO RIVER COMES THROUGH. >> Reporter: THERE ON THE SHORE THEY COLLECTED THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF TINY SNAILS. AND NOW THIS TEAM FROM UC RIVERSIDE HAS PROVEN THE SNAILS ARE TO BLAME. >> WE WERE JUMPING UP AND DOWN IN THE LAB WHEN WE WERE ABLE TO DEFINITIVELY SAY IT IS THIS PARASITE AND IT IS HERE IN THE COLORADO RIVER. >> Reporter: THIS MEANS WHEN IT COMES TO PROTECTING YOUR POOCH THE COLORADO RIVER COULD BE RISKY. >> SO IF YOU DO TAKE YOUR DOG INTO THESE WATERS AND A MONTH OR TWO LATER IT BEGINS TO HAVE SOME OF THE SYMPTOMS, IT BECOMES LETHARGIC, FEVER, DIARRHEA, IT LOSES ITS APPETITE, STARTS TO LOSE WEIGHT, YOU NEED TO GET THAT DOG TESTED FOR THIS PARASITE. >> Reporter: DILLMAN'S NOT DONE YET. BECAUSE THESE SNAILS THAT CARRY THE PARASITE ARE EATEN BY ROAMING RACCOONS. >> BUT THAT'S THE NEXT IMPORTANT QUESTION THAT WE NEED TO DETERMINE, IS HOW FAR HAVE THESE
