A NEW HEPATOZOON SPECIES FROM DOGS - DESCRIPTION OF THE CAUSATIVE AGENT OF CANINE HEPATOZOONOSIS IN NORTH-AMERICA

A new species of Adeleina, Hepatozoon americanum, is described from th e skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, visceral organs, and blood of dogs (Canis familiaris) in the Southern United Stares. The organism was pre viously identified as Hepatozoon canis (James, 1905) Wenyon, 1926; how ever, differences in clinical signs, histopathological and serological findings, gamont size, and ultrastructure define the new species of H epatozoon. Attempts to transmit the protozoan from infected dogs to ny mphal Rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks, the definitive host of H. canis, were not successful.