A Comprehensive Review of Animal Models for Coronaviruses: SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV

• Published in: Virologica Sinica Vol. 35; no. 3; pp. 290 - 304
• Main Authors: Singh, Ashutosh, Singh, Rahul Soloman, Sarma, Phulen, Batra, Gitika, Joshi, Rupa, Kaur, Hardeep, Sharma, Amit Raj, Prakash, Ajay, Medhi, Bikash
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore Springer Singapore 01.06.2020; KeAi Publishing Communications Ltd
• Subjects: Animal models; Animals; Betacoronavirus - pathogenicity; Biochemistry; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Camelids, New World; Camelus; Coronaviridae; Coronavirus Infections - immunology; Coronavirus Infections - physiopathology; Coronavirus Infections - therapy; Coronavirus Infections - virology; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Disease Models, Animal; Immune response; Medical Microbiology; Mice; Microbial Genetics and Genomics; Microbiology; Middle East respiratory syndrome; Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus - pathogenicity; Oncology; Pandemics; Pneumonia, Viral - immunology; Pneumonia, Viral - physiopathology; Pneumonia, Viral - therapy; Pneumonia, Viral - virology; Respiratory diseases; Review; SARS Virus - pathogenicity; SARS-CoV-2; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - immunology; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - physiopathology; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - therapy; Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome - virology; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Swine; Vaccines; Virology; COVID-19; Animal model; SARS; Coronaviruses; MERS
• ISSN: 1674-0769; 1995-820X
• DOI: 10.1007/s12250-020-00252-z

The recent outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has already affected a large population of the world. SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the same family of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV). COVID-19 has a complex pathology involving severe acute respiratory infection, hyper-immune response, and coagulopathy. At present, there is no therapeutic drug or vaccine approved for the disease. There is an urgent need for an ideal animal model that can reflect clinical symptoms and underlying etiopathogenesis similar to COVID-19 patients which can be further used for evaluation of underlying mechanisms, potential vaccines, and therapeutic strategies. The current review provides a paramount insight into the available animal models of SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV, and MERS-CoV for the management of the diseases.