Coccidiosis - Dog

Isospora canis - Joaquim Castellà Veterinary Parasitology Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

• 2 common and 2 less common Isospora species

• Occasionally can cause disease

• Little pathogenicity

• Even if faecal oocyst count is high, other causes of diarrhoea should be looked for

• Hepatozoon americanum and subclinical H. canis in periosteal bone formation
  • Both are Tick borne diseases
    • H. canis – Rhipicephalus sanguineus
    • Ticks become infected by ingesting a blood meal containing macrophages and neutrophils infected with the parasite gamonts -> sexual replication in the gut of the tick -> oocysts containing infective sporozoites -> dogs ingest the tick  schizogony occurs in numerous tissues