Hepatozoon canis infection in a litter of Dalmatian dogs

Infection with Hepatozoon canis is described in a litter of seven Dalmatians. Four littermates were presented with concurrent hepatozoonosis and parvoviral enteritis and the remaining three puppies were parasitemic with H. canis with no other concurrent disease. Parasitemia ranged between 3% and 67% of the blood neutrophils. The mean number of parasitized neutrophils per mu 1 among littermates with concurrent hepatozoonosis and parvoviral enteritis was 1139 (+/-447 SD) on the day of admission, compared with 470 (+/- 379) among littermates with hepatozoonosis only. Puppies with hepatozoonosis and parvovirus infection at admission differed significantly in their degree of H. canis parasitemia from their littermates which were not infected with parvovirus (P = 0.0286). Concurrent parvoviral enteritis and hepatozoonosis in the dog are reported here for the first time.