Animal Models for SARS-CoV-2 research: Systematic Review of Literature
and Future Directions
Abstract
Emerging and reemerging viral diseases can lead to devastating effects
on human lives and at times 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. Still, the
molecular mechanism of transmission of SARS-CoV-2, its clinical
manifestations and pathogenesis is not completely understood. The global
scientific community has intensified their efforts to understand the
biology of SARS-CoV-2 to develop 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 is urgently needed. In this review, we outline
animal models that have been used to study previous human coronaviruses
(HCoVs), that includes severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus
(SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV).
Importantly, we discuss which model is appropriate for SARS-CoV-2 as
well as the advantages and disadvantages of each.