Natural reservoir
In infectious disease ecology and epidemiology, a natural reservoir, also known as a disease reservoir or a reservoir of infection, is the population of organisms or the specific environment in which an infectious pathogen naturally lives, persists, and reproduces, or upon which the pathogen primarily depends for survival. A reservoir is usually a living host of a particular species, such as an animal, human, or plant, within which the pathogen survives, often without causing severe disease in the reservoir itself.