Question

What is a secondary host?

Answer 1

Host :

1. It can be defined as the organism which harbors and provides support for another organism.
2. A host is larger than the organism which harbors on it.

Secondary host :

1. When the parasite harbors the host for a short period to complete the developmental stage, it is referred to as secondary host.
2. It acts as a vector of the parasite to reach its primary host.
3. Example: The secondary host of malarial parasites in the human body, where the malaria parasite uses the host's red blood cells to produce male and female gametocytes, which are taken by the female Anopheles mosquito on biting a malaria-infected person to produce sporozoites in its gut.