|
Medical Definition of Paratenic host
1. An intermediate host in which no development of the parasite occurs, although its presence may be required as an essential link in the completion of the parasite's life cycle; e.g., the successive fish host's that carry the plerocercoid of Diphyllobothrium latum, the broad fish tapeworm, to larger food fish eventually eaten by man or other final host's. Synonym: transport host. (05 Mar 2000)