Hematodinium perezi, a parasitic dinoflagellate, infects the hemolymph of blue crabs (Callinectes sapidus) and is found in high prevalence (> 80%) in juvenile crabs throughout the coastal bays of Virginia. In the blue crab–Hematodinium system, metabolic exhaustion from H. Perezi contributes to high mortality. This study investigated the role of cannibalism in the transmission of H. perezi by quantifying the functional response. We hypothesized that infected juveniles would experience a higher proportional mortality than their healthy conspecifics. This hypothesis supported a type II functional response, allowing for the functional elimination of Hematodinium within the population as infected juveniles are removed through the effects of cannibalism. Between July and October of 2024, we ran mesocosm experiments to evaluate the proportional mortality of infected and uninfected juveniles (10-30 mmCW). Individual tanks harbored artificial seagrass mats (1075 shoots/m2) and sand to four densities of prey (n = 1, 2, 4, & 8) and 1 cannibal >60 mmCW. Infected juvenile blue crabs followed a type III functional response. These results suggest that infected crabs experienced a reduced encounter rate with the predator due to their lack of movement from metabolic exhaustion at heavy infections. Although there seems to be a relative low-density refuge for infected juveniles, cannibals still predated on both, and did not share a preference for infected or healthy juveniles. This has important implications for the fishery at large as Hematodinium can persist at low densities. These findings highlight the resilience of Hematodinium perezi within blue crab populations in endemic regions, demonstrating that cannibalism, while influential, is insufficient to fully eradicate the parasite due to the presence of low-density refuges for infected juveniles.