title: Development of animal models against emerging coronaviruses: From SARS to MERS coronavirus.
abstract: Two novel coronaviruses have emerged to cause severe disease in humans. While bats may be the primary reservoir for both viruses, SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) likely crossed into humans from civets in China, and MERS coronavirus (MERS-CoV) has been transmitted from camels in the Middle East. Unlike SARS-CoV that resolved within a year, continued introductions of MERS-CoV present an on-going public health threat. Animal models are needed to evaluate countermeasures against emerging viruses. With SARS-CoV, several animal species were permissive to infection. In contrast, most laboratory animals are refractory or only semi-permissive to infection with MERS-CoV. This host-range restriction is largely determined by sequence heterogeneity in the MERS-CoV receptor. We describe animal models developed to study coronaviruses, with a focus on host-range restriction at the level of the viral receptor and discuss approaches to consider in developing a model to evaluate countermeasures against MERS-CoV.
authors: Laboratory of Infectious Disease, NIAID, NIH, United States.
authors: Troy C
authors: TC
authors: Sutton
authors: Laboratory of Infectious Disease, NIAID, NIH, United States. Electronic address: ksubbarao@niaid.nih.gov.
authors: Kanta
authors: K
authors: Subbarao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D021821:Communicable Diseases, Emerging / Q000821:virology*; D018352:Coronavirus Infections / Q000821:virology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D058507:Host Specificity; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions; D006801:Humans; D065207:Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D045473:Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Animal models; Coronaviruses; MERS-CoV; Receptor; SARS-CoV