dead-end host [AS, dead + ende + L, hospes, guest] , 1. a host from which infectious agents are not transmitted to other susceptible hosts. 2. any host organism from which a parasite cannot escape to continue its life cycle. Humans are dead-end hosts for trichinosis, because the larvae encysted in muscle and human flesh are unlikely to be a source of food for other animals susceptible to this parasite. Compare definitive host, intermediate host, reservoir host.
