dead-end host

dead-end host

n.

A host from which infectious agents are not transmitted to other susceptible hosts.

---

dead-end host

Etymology: AS, dead + ende + L, hospes, guest

1 a host from which infectious agents are not transmitted to other susceptible hosts.

2 any host organism from which a parasite cannot escape to continue its life cycle. Humans are dead-end hosts for trichinosis, because the larvae encysted in muscle and human flesh are unlikely to be a source of food for other animals susceptible to this parasite. Compare definitive host, intermediate host, reservoir host.

---

host

1. an animal or plant that harbors and provides sustenance for another organism (the parasite). Includes paratenic, intermediate etc.

2. the recipient of an organ or other tissue derived from another organism (the donor).

---

accidental host

one that accidentally harbors an organism that is not ordinarily parasitic in the particular species.

alternate host

intermediate host.

dead-end host

the disease cannot be transmitted from the infected host to another animal.

host determinants

characteristics in the host which determine its susceptibility to a disease, e.g. closeness to parturition and metabolic diseases.

host-parasite reaction

the inflammatory reaction that sometimes occurs around a parasite in tissues, e.g. a warble fly larva in the esophageal wall.

predilection host

the host preferred by a parasite.

primary host

definitive host.

reservoir host

an animal (or species) that is infected by a parasite, and which serves as a source of infection for humans or another species.

host risk factors

epidemiological factors contributing to the development of a disease and which are contributed by the host.

secondary host

intermediate host.

host specificity

the characteristic of a parasite that renders it capable of infecting only one or more specific hosts.

transfer host, transport host

one that is used until the appropriate definitive host is reached, but is not necessary to complete the life cycle of the parasite.

host variable

see host determinants (above).