Nine of 16 free-ranging coyotes (Canis latrans) from central Oklahoma (USA) had naturally acquired infections of Hepatozoon americanum. Infections were confirmed by recognition of tissue stages closely resembling H. americanum in skeletal and cardiac muscle. At the time coyotes were collected they were infested with a variety of ticks, including adult Gulf Coast ticks (Amblyomma maculatum). We propose that the high prevalence of H. americanum in this small sample of free-ranging coyotes and the ability of these same animals to harbor adult populations of A. maculatum is an important component of the epizootiology of canine hepatozoonosis in North America.
How to translate text using browser tools
1 January 1999
Naturally Occurring Hepatozoonosis in Coyotes from Oklahoma
A. Alan Kocan,
Melanie Breshears,
Connie Cummings,
Roger J. Panciera,
S. A. Ewing,
Robert W. Barker
Journal of Wildlife Diseases
Vol. 35 • No. 1
January 1999
Vol. 35 • No. 1
January 1999
Amblyomma maculatum
Canis latrans
coyotes
Gulf Coast tick
Hepatozoon americanum
survey