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Seasonal variation of Hepatozoon spp. (Apicomplexa, Hepatozoidae) parasitemia from Boa constrictor amarali (Serpentes, Boidae) and Hydrodynastes gigas (Serpentes, Colubridae).

de Vieira Santos MM, O'Dwyer LH, da Silva RJ

Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Biociências, Unesp, Campus de Botucatu, Distrito de Rubião Júnior, Botucatu, SP, 18618-000, Brazil.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the parasitemia variation of three Hepatozoon species in Brazilian snakes. This study was conducted between 2001 and 2003 and included Hepatozoon terzii from Boa constrictor amarali, and Hepatozoon migonei and Hepatozoon cyclagrasi from Hydrodynastes gigas. It was observed that the parasitemia tended to decrease in all three Hepatozoon species but the parasites were not eliminated. This data suggest that Hepatozoon infection may be similar to Toxoplasma gondii infection, in that it persists throughout host life.

Published 31 August 2005 in Parasitol Res, 97(2): 94-7.
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