xenodiagnosis(Noun)

diagnosis of an infectious disease (especially of trypanosomiasis) by exposure to a vector of that disease, incubating the vector and examining it for the presence of the disease

Xenodiagnosis

A method for diagnosing a disease in one organism by inoculating the putative causative organism in a second animal of a different species. It has been used for the detection of parasites (Trypanosoma cruzi and Trichinella spiralis) when peripheral blood smears are negative. (Segen, Current Med Talk, 1995)