Dermatitis in a dog associated with an unidentified Toxoplasma gondii-like parasite

Protozoal dermatitis was diagnosed in a 6-year-old female Great Dane dog from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The dog died because of a chronic illness with an Ehrlichia-like organism. Numerous apicomplexan parasites were identified histologically in the section of dermal lesions. The protozoan reacted with Toxoplasma gondii polyclonal rabbit serum but not with Neospora caninum or Sarcocystis neurona antibodies. Ultrastructurally, the protozoa was not T. gondii because it had schizont-like structures with merozoites arranged around a prominent residual body, and the merozoites had several rhoptries with electron-dense contents; rhoptries in T. gondii tachyzoites are electron-lucent and a residual body is not found in groups of tachyzoites. This is the first report of unidentified T. gondii-like protozoa in the skin of a dog.