Animal Models for SARS-CoV-2 research: A Comprehensive Literature Review.

Pandey, Kabita; Acharya, Arpan; Mohan, Mahesh; Ng, Caroline L; Reid, Patrick St; Byrareddy, Siddappa N

Emerging and reemerging viral diseases can create devastating effects on human lives and may also lead to economic crises. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic due to the novel coronavirus (nCoV), severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which originated in Wuhan, China, has caused a global public health emergency. To date, the molecular mechanism of transmission of SARS-CoV-2, its clinical manifestations, and pathogenesis are not completely understood. The global scientific community has intensified its efforts in understanding the biology of SARS-CoV-2 for development of vaccines and therapeutic interventions to prevent the rapid spread of the virus and to control mortality and morbidity associated with COVID-19. To understand the pathophysiology of SARS-CoV-2, appropriate animal models that mimic the biology of human SARS-COV-2 infection are urgently needed. In this review, we outline animal models that have been used to study previous human coronaviruses (HCoVs), including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). Importantly, we discuss models that are appropriate for SARS-CoV-2 as well as the advantages and disadvantages of various available methods.