xenodiagnosis

xenodiagnosis /xeno·di·ag·no·sis/ (-di″ag-no´sis) a method of animal inoculation using laboratory-bred bugs and animals in the diagnosis of certain parasitic infections when the infecting organism cannot be demonstrated in blood films; used in Chagas' disease (examination of the feces of clean bugs fed on the patient's blood) and trichinosis (examination of rats to which the patient's muscle tissue has been fed).xenodiagnos´tic

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xen·o·di·ag·no·sis (zn-dg-nss, zn-)

n. pl. xen·o·di·ag·no·ses (-sz)

Diagnosis of an infectious disease at an early stage by exposing a presumably infected individual or tissue to a clean, laboratory-bred mosquito, tick, or other vector and, following a suitable incubation period, examining the vector for the presence of the infective microorganism.

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xenodiagnosis

[-dī·agnō′sis]

a method of diagnosing a vector-transmitted infection such as Chagas' disease, in which a laboratory-reared, pathogen-free insect is allowed to suck blood from a patient. The intestinal contents of the insect are then examined for the presence of the pathogen.

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xenodiagnosis

1. diagnosis by means of finding, in the feces of clean laboratory-reared, parasite-free arthropod vectors allowed to feed on the host suspected of being infected by a protozoan, the infective forms of the organism causing the disease; used in diagnosis of trypanosomiasis.

2. diagnosis of trichinosis by means of feeding laboratory-bred rats or mice on meat suspected of being infected with Trichinella, and then examining the animals for the parasite.