Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Hepatozoon canis infection found in dogs in Espirito Santo Brazil
By Spolidorio, Mariana G et al.·Published in Veterinary parasitology·2009·Laborató, Brazil·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Hepatozoon canis infecting dogs in the State of Espírito Santo, southeastern Brazil.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study found that 54 out of 92 healthy dogs in southeastern Brazil tested positive for Hepatozoon canis, a parasite that can be spread by ticks. Most of these dogs were from rural areas, and the common tick found on them was Rhipicephalus sanguineus. Interestingly, all the dogs that tested positive for another parasite, Babesia, were also infected with Hepatozoon. Despite the infections, the dogs appeared healthy, indicating that the effects of Hepatozoon canis on their health are still unclear.
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Abstract
From May 2007 to March 2008, blood samples were collected from 92 healthy dogs living in 21 households (17 farms in rural area, and 4 homes in urban area) in 6 counties of the State of Espírito Santo, southeastern Brazil. In addition, ticks were collected from these dogs. A mean of 4.4+/-3.0 dogs (range: 1-12) were sampled per household; 78 and 14 dogs were from rural and urban areas, respectively. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) designed to amplify fragments of the 18S rDNA gene of Babesia spp or Hepatozoon spp revealed amplicons of the expected size in 20 (21.7%) dogs for Babesia, and 54 (58.7%) dogs for Hepatozoon. All Babesia-positive dogs were also Hepatozoon-positive. Among the 21 households, 15 (71.4%) from 3 counties had at least one PCR-positive dog, including 13 farms (rural area) and 2 homes (urban area). A total of 40 PCR products from the Hepatozoon-PCR, and 19 products from the Babesia-PCR were submitted to DNA sequencing. All generated sequences from Hepatozoon-PCR were identical to each other, and to corresponding 18S rDNA sequences of H. canis in GenBank. Surprisingly, all generated sequences from the Babesia PCR were also identical to corresponding 18S rDNA sequences of H. canis in GenBank. Dogs from 10 rural and 2 urban households were found infested by Rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks. Immature of Amblyomma cajennense ticks were found in dogs from only 4 rural households (also infested by R. sanguineus). All but one household with R. sanguineus-infested dogs had at least one Hepatozoon-infected dog. Statistical analysis showed that the presence of ticks (i.e. R. sanguineus) infesting dogs in the households was significantly (P<0.05) associated with at least one PCR-positive dog. There was no significant association (P>0.05) between PCR-positive dogs and urban or rural households. Canine hepatozoonosis caused by H. canis is a high frequent infection in Espírito Santo, Brazil, where it is possibly vectored by R. sanguineus. Since all infected dogs were found apparently healthy, the pathogenicity of H. canis for dogs in Espírito Santo is yet to be elucidated.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19482427/