Use of Animal Models in Virology Research

Animal Model	Usage	Examples	Limitations	References
Mouse Models	Genetic studies, pathogenesis, vaccine and treatment evaluation	Knockout mice for gene function, studying viral infections like influenza and HIV	May not always represent human disease accurately, limited by size	- Taubenberger JK, Morens DM. 1918 Influenza: the mother of all pandemics. Emerg Infect Dis. 2006 Jan;12(1):15-22. doi: 10.3201/eid1201.050979. PMID: 16494711; PMCID: PMC3291398.
Rat Models	Studying organ-specific viral infections	Hepatitis research, respiratory viruses	Less genetically tractable, limitations in genetic manipulation compared to mice	- Jacobsen KH, Aguirre AA, Bailey CL, Baranova AV, Crooks AT, Croitoru A, Delamater PL, Gupta J, Kehn-Hall K, Narayanan A, Pierobon M, Rowan KE, Schwebach JR, Seshaiyer P, Sklarew DM, Stefanidis A, Agouris P. Lessons from the Ebola Outbreak: Action Items for Emerging Infectious Disease Preparedness and Response. Ecohealth. 2016 Mar;13(1):200-12. doi: 10.1007/s10393-016-1100-5. Epub 2016 Feb 25. PMID: 26915507; PMCID: PMC7087787.
Non-Human Primates (NHPs)	Studying closely related human pathogens	HIV pathogenesis, Ebola virus, SARS-CoV-2	Ethical concerns, high cost, complex biology	- Zaki, A.M., et al. (2012). Isolation of a Novel Coronavirus from a Man with Pneumonia in Saudi Arabia Original Article, N Engl J Med 2012;367:1814-1820. - WHO. (2022). Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV).
Ferret Models	Studying respiratory viruses	Influenza virus transmission and pathogenesis	Less well-characterized, limited genetic manipulation	- Oh,Ding Y and Hurt,Aeron C. (2016). Using the Ferret as an Animal Model for Investigating Influenza Antiviral Effectiveness. Front. Microbiol.,2016 - Poulami Basu Thakur, Victoria J Mrotz, Taronna R Maines, Jessica A Belser, Ferrets as a Mammalian Model to Study Influenza Virus-Bacteria Interactions, The Journal of Infectious Diseases, Volume 229, Issue 2, 15 February 2024, Pages 608–615, https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/jiad408.
Guinea Pig Models	Studying respiratory and some other viral infections	RSV, hantaviruses	Small size limits blood volume and procedure complexity	- Victoria K. Baxter, Diane E. Griffin, Chapter 10 - Animal Models: No Model Is Perfect, but Many Are Useful, Editor(s): Michael G. Katze, Marcus J. Korth, G. Lynn Law, Neal Nathanson, Viral Pathogenesis (Third Edition), Academic Press, 2016, Pages 125-138, ISBN 9780128009642, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-800964-2.00010-0..
Zebrafish Models	Studying virus-host interactions at cellular and developmental levels	Early stages of viral infection, antiviral drug development	Limited to studies in aquatic environment, less complex than mammals	- Zebrafish as a model organism for virus disease research: Current status and future directions Sullivan, C., Jurcyzszak, D., Goody, M. F., Gabor, K. A., Longfellow, J. R., Millard, P. J., Kim, C. H. Using Zebrafish Models of Human Influenza A Virus Infections to Screen Antiviral Drugs and Characterize Host Immune Cell Responses. J. Vis. Exp. (119), e55235, doi:10.3791/55235 (2017).