Blood Parasites Upper panel: Babesia canis Lower panel: Dirofilaria immitis This section is used to report the presence of blood parasites which may be observed during the microscopic examination of the stained blood film. The type of organism is reported along with a semi-quantitative grading of the number of organisms (many, few, etc.). Examples: Rickettsial: Hemobartonellae, Ehrlichia, Anaplasma, Eperythrozoon Protozoal: Babesia, Cytauxzoon, Hemoproteus, Leukocytozoon Helminth: Dirofilaria microfilaria Viral: canine distemper inclusions Because parasitemias are commonly episodic and/or of low magnitude, along with the fact that some of these agents are small and sometimes difficult to discern (especially in films of suboptimal quality), failure to demonstrate organisms in a given blood sample generally does not constitute a "rule-out" for infection. Last Updated: September 1997