Hepatozoon canis was experimentally transmitted to an infection-free dog through oral feeding of naturally infected adult Rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks. Gamonts of H. canis were observed after 32 days post infection (DPI), parasitaemia reached to a peak of 60% after 54 DPI and subsequently plummeted to <5% after 72 DPI, where upon the dog was immunosuppressed with dexamethasone sodium. Upon immunosuppression, gamonts were noticed in as many as 74% of the circulating neutrophils after 84 DPI and the dog succumbed to the infection after 88 DPI. Gross and histopathological changes in the liver, spleen and bone marrow are described.
Hepatozoon canis, Meront, Gamont, Histopathological changes
