• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Veterinary Pathology Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.51-51
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• 2005

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.561-564
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• 2017

This report describes a dog infected with Hepatozoon canis, the first canine infection in the Republic of Korea. A 2-year-old intact male Maltese dog presented with anorexia and depression. Physical examinations revealed mild dehydration and hyperthermia ($39.8^{\circ}C$), and blood analysis showed pancytopenia. Diff-Quik staining of blood smear specimens showed the presence of ellipsoidal shaped structures (gamonts of H. canis) within a small number of neutrophils. Real-time PCR analysis using whole blood confirmed infection by H. canis. The clinical condition of the dog improved after symptomatic treatment and administration of doxycycline. Although a molecular epidemiologic survey in Korea showed H. canis infection of dogs, to our knowledge this is the first report of a dog infection in Korea molecularly shown to be H. canis.