DETECTION OF HEPATOZOON-CANIS OOCYST FROM TICKS COLLECTED FROM THE INFECTED-DOGS

We collected 220 ticks from 58 dogs infected with Hepatozoon canis fro m 1990 to 1992 in Yamaguchi and Fukuoka prefectures, the western provi nces of Japan. These ticks were identified as Haemaphysalis campanulat a, H. longicornis, H. flava, Ixodes ovata, and I. nipponensis. By hist opathological examination of these ticks, two oocysts which seemed to be those of H. canis were observed in the haemocoele of an adult femal e H. longicornis and a nymph H. flava tick. The oocyst, about 300 x 15 0 mu m in size, was composed of 50 to 70 sporocysts with 10 to 16 bana na-shaped sporozoites each.