Prevalence and molecular characterization of Hepatozoon canis in dogs from urban and rural areas in Southeast Brazil

•The 18S rRNA gene indicated that the dogs were infected with Hepatozoon canis.•In rural settings there were more positive males than females, unlike in the urban area.•Higher proportion of infected adults than puppies were observed in both areas.•Four local dog sequences were submitted to GenBank.•The highest proportion of positive animals came from the rural area. The objective of this survey was to investigate the prevalence of Hepatozoon infection in dogs in the rural and urban areas of Uberlândia, Brazil by PCR and molecular characterization. DNA was obtained from blood samples collected from 346 local dogs from both genders and various ages. Seventeen PCR products from positive blood samples of urban dogs and 13 from the rural dogs were sequenced. Partial sequences of the 18S rRNA gene indicated that all 30 dogs were infected with Hepatozoon canis similar in sequence to H. canis from southern Europe. Four local dog sequences were submitted to GenBank (accessions JN835188; KF692038; KF692039; KF692040). This study indicates that H. canis is the cause of canine hepatozoonosis in Uberlândia and that infection is similarly widespread in rural and urban dogs.