Geographical isolation and hyperendemicity of : Epidemiological scenario in Skopelos, Greece, and phylogenetic analysis.

Feline hepatozoonosis is a vector-borne disease caused by different species of the genus , i.e. , and . Knowledge on the biology, epidemiology and taxonomy of spp. is still limited, despite the fact that the number of documented spp. infections in domestic cats increased in recent years in different countries. This study was carried out to evaluate the prevalence and the genetic profile of spp. in cats living on the island of Skopelos, Greece. Individual blood samples were collected from 54 owned cats and were subjected to Giemsa-stained blood smear examination to investigate the presence of spp. gamonts and to a specific PCR protocol targeting the 18S rRNA gene of . A total of 45 cats (83.3%) were found infected by spp. by at least one of the methods applied. In particular, 43 (79.6%) of the cats were PCR-positive, and in 6 (11.1%) cats gamonts of spp. were found in the blood smears. A total of 26  sequences were obtained and the presence of three undescribed single nucleotide polymorphisms were detected. The present results indicate that species complex may be hyperendemic in isolated/confined areas. In such contexts, geographical isolation may favor the origin of new genotypes or haplotypes or even new species.