title: Hepatozoon spp. infections in wild rodents in an area of endemic canine hepatozoonosis in southeastern Brazil.
abstract: Hepatozoon canis is a tick-borne parasite that occurs worldwide. In rural areas of Brazil, H. canis vectors remain unknown, which has led to speculation about alternative routes of transmission. Small rodents can play a role in the transmission (via predation) of Hepatozoon americanum, which led us to question whether predation might be an alternative mode of transmission for H. canis. Thus, this study investigated whether Hepatozoon spp. are present in wild small rodents in forest fragments that surround rural areas in Botucatu County, São Paulo, Brazil, where canine hepatozoonosis is endemic. The study included blood samples from 158 dogs, which were screened by microscopy and molecular analysis. Blood samples and tissues from 67 rodents were obtained for histopathology and molecular detection. The prevalence of H. canis was high (66.45%) in dogs from rural areas of Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil. The molecular analysis showed that wild rodent species in Brazil were infected with Hepatozoon spp. other than H. canis. Therefore, although the hypothesis that sylvatic rodents act as reservoirs for H. canis was not supported, the presence of monozoic cysts in the rodents suggests that, in addition to intermediate hosts, wild small rodents in Brazil might act as paratenic hosts of Hepatozoon spp. because they harbor infective stages for intermediate host predators.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biociências, UNESP-Univ Estadual Paulista, Campus de Botucatu, Departamento de Parasitologia, Distrito de Rubião Junior, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Larissa de Castro
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Demoner
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biociências, UNESP-Univ Estadual Paulista, Campus de Botucatu, Departamento de Parasitologia, Distrito de Rubião Junior, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Natalia Mizuhira
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Magro
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biociências, UNESP-Univ Estadual Paulista, Campus de Botucatu, Departamento de Parasitologia, Distrito de Rubião Junior, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Maria Regina Lucas
authors.initials: MRL
authors.lastname: da Silva
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciências Animais, Universidade Federal Rural do Semiárido, Av. Francisco Mota 572, Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.
authors.forename: João Marcelo Azevedo
authors.initials: JMA
authors.lastname: de Paula Antunes
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ciências Animais, Universidade Federal Rural do Semiárido, Av. Francisco Mota 572, Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.
authors.forename: Cecilia Irene Pérez
authors.initials: CIP
authors.lastname: Calabuig
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biociências, UNESP-Univ Estadual Paulista, Campus de Botucatu, Departamento de Parasitologia, Distrito de Rubião Junior, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address: odwyer@ibb.unesp.br.
authors.forename: Lucia Helena
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: O'Dwyer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000835:Animals, Wild / Q000469:parasitology*; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000635:transmission / Q000662:veterinary*; D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000469:parasitology; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000469:parasitology*; D004285:Dogs; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D016783:Eucoccidiida / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D011235:Predatory Behavior; D012377:Rodentia / Q000469:parasitology*
chemical_list: D016054:DNA, Protozoan
keywords: Dogs; Hepatozoon canis; Paratenic hosts; Transmission; Wild rodents