leucocytozoonosis in domestic birds in southwestern iran: an ultrastructural study.

background: leucocytozoonosis is a disease of birds caused by obligate intracellular protozoa of the genus leucocytozoon. we determined the prevalence of leucocytozoon spp. using light and transmis-sion electron microscopy in domestic birds in southwest of iran. methods: a total of 825 blood smears from 275 birds were examined for presence of infection. the structure morphology of leucocytozoon spp. was studied using light and electron microscopy. results: forty-four (16.0%) of the birds were positives for leucocytozoon . the detected parasite were found in 14 chickens (5.1%), 12 geese (4.3 %), 10 ducks (3.6%), and 8 turkeys (2.9%). the majority of the records were from the northeastern regions. conclusion: leucocytozoonosis are distributed in the lorestan province bird population and elec-tron microscopy can resolve the problem to distinguish between similar species of leucocytozoon .