Life cycle stages of Hepatozoon ingwe (Apicomplexa: Adeleorina: Hepatozoidae) in an Ixodes sp. tick vector (Arthropoda: Ixodida: Ixodidae) and an African leopard Panthera pardus pardus

Intracellular apicomplexan haemoparasites from the genus Hepatozoon Miller 1908 have been described from a wide range of vertebrate hosts, including wild carnivores in Africa. Reports from the African leopard, Panthera pardus pardus (Linnaeus 1758) are scarce and generally non-specific, and description on the mode of transmission and life cycle stages in infected vectors remains relatively rare. The aim of this study was to explore the role of ticks as potential vectors of a species of Hepatozoon infecting African leopards in South Africa. Peripheral blood samples and engorged ticks were collected from five wild leopards (three females and two males) while under sedation. Giemsa stained smears of peripheral blood were screened for Hepatozoon gamont stages, both extra- and intraleukocytic. Engorged ticks from infected leopards were subsequently kept alive in a fasting state for seven days before being dissected and smeared on clean microscope slides, stained with Giemsa solution, and screened for various possible developmental stages. Sporogonic stages, including microgametes, immature and mature oocysts and infective sporozoites, were observed in a tick (Ixodes sp.) collected from a male leopard infected with gamont stages of Hepatozoon ingwe Van As, Netherlands and Smit 2020. Developmental stages were photographed, differentiated and measured with ImageJ software. One tick-smear microscope slide was scraped and used for genetic confirmation of the identity of this haemogregarine. This is the first report on the characteristics of different developmental stages of a feline species of Hepatozoon in both its potential tick vector and African leopard host.