portatori

Portatori is the plural of portatore, an Italian noun meaning bearer or carrier. The term derives from the Latin portator, from portare, meaning to carry, and is used to describe someone or something that bears a physical or metaphorical load.

In medicine and public health, portatori refers to individuals who harbor a biological agent such as a bacterium or virus and can transmit it to others. When symptoms are absent, such individuals are often described as portatori sani, or healthy carriers.

In genetics, a portatore (carrier) is someone who carries one copy of a recessive allele that can cause disease when paired with another copy. Carriers usually do not show the disorder themselves but can pass the allele to offspring.

Outside biomedicine, the term can describe anyone or anything that carries something else, such as workers who transport goods or devices that support a load. Portatori can also be a surname in Italian-speaking regions.