amplifying host

noun

variants or less commonly amplifier host or amplification host

plural amplifying hosts also amplifier hosts or amplification hosts

: an organism in which an infectious agent (such as a virus or bacterium) that is pathogenic for some other species is able to replicate rapidly and to high concentrations

Note: An amplifying host tends to increase the spread of infectious pathogens and may be intermediate to or also serve as the pathogen reservoir (see reservoir sense 3a)

These data suggest chipmunks might play a role in enzootic WNV [West Nile Virus] cycles and be an amplifying host for mosquitoes that could infect humans.

—Kenneth B. Platt et al.

Pigs are particularly important, as they act as amplifier hosts, pumping out millions of virus particles.

—Linda Searle

Word History

First Known Use

1963, in the meaning defined above