Topic summary
Intermediate host
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Host (biology).
Types of hosts
- Definitive or primary host – an organism in which the parasite reaches the adult stage and reproduces sexually, if possible. This is the final host.
- Secondary or intermediate host – an organism that harbors the sexually immature parasite and is required by the parasite to undergo development and complete its life cycle. It often acts as a vector of the parasite to reach its definitive host. For example, Dirofilaria immitis, the heartworm of dogs, uses the mosquito as its intermediate host until it matures into the infective L3 larval stage.