Natural reservoir
（重定向自Infection reservoir）
![Bushmeat being prepared for cooking in Ghana, 2013. Human consumption of equatorial animals in Africa in the form of bushmeat has been linked to the transmission of diseases to people, including ebola.[2]](/Images/godic/202501/20/Bushmeat_-_Buschfleisch_Ghana3835.JPG")
A natural reservoir or nidus (the latter from the Latin word for "nest") is the long-term host of a pathogen of an infectious disease. Hosts often do not get the disease carried by the pathogen or it is carried as a subclinical infection and so asymptomatic and non-lethal. Once discovered, natural reservoirs elucidate the complete life cycle of infectious diseases, providing effective prevention and control.