title: The first report of Hepatozoon species infection in leopard cats (Prionailurus bengalensis) in Korea.
abstract: Hepatozoon species infections were detected in 4 of 5 heart samples from leopard cats (Prionailurus bengalensis) in Korea examined by light microscopy and PCR. Microscopically, the schizonts of the Hepatozoon species were observed within the parasitophorous vacuoles of unidentified host cells that were located between myocytes. The schizonts were approximately 31 +/- 4 x 19 +/- 3 microm in size; 3 mature schizonts contained approximately 24, 25, and 35 merozoites. In analyses of the partial 18S rRNA gene sequence, the Hepatozoon species infecting the Korean leopard cats was closely related to Brazilian (99.2-99.8% identical) and Spanish (97.0-98.2% identical) isolates of Hepatozoon felis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Applied Biological Sciences, Gifu University, Gifu, Japan.
authors.forename: Masahito
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kubo
authors.forename: Aram
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.forename: Sang-In
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Young-Jun
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Junpei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Agatsuma
authors.forename: Hiroki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sakai
authors.forename: Tokuma
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yanai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000469:parasitology / Q000662:veterinary*; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000737:chemistry; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry; D016783:Eucoccidiida / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D045989:Felidae / Q000469:parasitology*; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000469:parasitology; D007723:Korea; D008297:Male; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000662:veterinary; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment / Q000662:veterinary
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012337:RNA, Ribosomal, 18S