Dead-end hosts

Pronunciation
/DEAD-end HOSTS/
Category
Ecology
Singular
Dead-end host
Plural
Dead-end hosts

Definition

Animals that are infected with a pathogen but do not develop a sufficiently high viremia to transmit the pathogen to vectors, such as mosquitoes.

Etymology

From the idea that these hosts are at the end of a transmission cycle.

Example

While pigs can be infected with Japanese encephalitis virus, they do not generally develop a high enough viremia to transmit it to mosquitoes.

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