Nodular lesions containing Hepatozoon sp. schizonts or merozoite gametocytes were found in the tissues of 67 (96%) of 70 wild caught martens (Martes melampus) examined in Gifu, Japan, 1991 and 1992. The heart was the most commonly parasitized organ (96%), followed by the perirenal adipose tissue (36%); the diaphragm, mesentery, tongue, omentum and perisplenic adipose tissue generally had a prevalence of 10 to 15%. In the heart, two types of nodular lesions were differentiated based on developmental stages: nodules containing schizonts and nodules consisting of an accumulation of phagocytes containing merozoites or gamonts. Under electron microscopy, mature schizonts contained membrane-bound merozoites with a single nucleus and small scattered electrondense cytoplasmic granules in the schizont nodules; the merozoites and gamonts were engulfed in a phagosome-like vacuole of phagocytes with the nucleus compressed to one side due to the parasite in the merozoite-gamont nodule.
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1 April 1995
HISTOPATHOLOGIC FEATURES OF NATURALLY OCCURRING HEPATOZOONOSIS IN WILD MARTENS (MARTES MELAMPUS) IN JAPAN
Tokuma Yanai,
Atsushi Tomita,
Toshiaki Masegi,
Katsuaki Ishikawa,
Toshirou Iwasaki,
Kazuaki Yamazoe,
Katsumoto Ueda
Journal of Wildlife Diseases
Vol. 31 • No. 2
April 1995
Vol. 31 • No. 2
April 1995
Hepatozoon sp.
Japan
marten
Martes melampus