First Evidence of Hepatozoon canis in Dogs With Clinical Signs in the North of Lima, Peru.

This study was aimed at detecting the presence of Hepatozoon canis in dogs with clinical signs in the northern area of Lima, Peru. Peripheral blood samples (n = 152) were collected from dogs with hematological alterations and clinical signs suggestive of hemoparasitosis. PCR was used to amplify the 18S ribosomal RNA gene of Hepatozoon sp. and was complemented with Sanger sequencing. Blood smears were used to identify the parasite gamonts. The frequency of H. canis was 15.1% (23/152) based on PCR and 0.7% (1/152) based on microscopic observation. The resulting sequences of the positive PCR amplicons (574 bp) exhibited high sequence similarity to the previously registered H. canis sequences in GenBank. Phylogenetic analysis revealed a similar relationship between the sequences identified in dogs from Thailand, the Philippines, Pakistan, India, and Colombia. This study presents the first evidence of H. canis in dogs with clinical signs in an endemic area for vector-borne diseases in Lima, Peru.