Hepatozoon

A genus of coccidian parasites (family Haemogregarinidae), in which schizogony occurs in the visceral organs, gametogony in the leukocytes or erythrocytes of vertebrate animals, and sporogony in certain ticks and other blood-sucking invertebrates. H. canis occurs in dogs, cats, jackals, and hyenas, but is most pathogenic in dogs, in which it may cause serious disease and death; other species have been described from rats, mice, rabbits, and squirrels. [hepato- + G. zoon, animal]

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Hep·a·to·zo·on (hep″ə-to-zoґon) [hepato- + Gr. zōon animal] a genus of coccidian protozoa (suborder Adeleina, order Eucoccidiida) found in the red blood cells of birds and mammals such as dogs, foxes, and rats. H. caґnis is transmitted to canines by the tick Rhipicephalus sanguineus (see hepatozoonosis). H. muris, found in the liver cells of rats, and H. perniciosum, found in dogs, are transmitted by the mite Echinolaelaps echidninus.