title: Animal Models for Hepatitis E Virus.
abstract: Animal models are one of the most important tools in the study of human hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection. They are particularly important in light of the major limitations of the cell culture system for HEV. Besides nonhuman primates, which are extremely valuable because of their susceptibility to HEV genotypes 1-4, animals like swine, rabbit, and chicken are also potential models for studies of pathogenesis, cross-species infection, and the molecular biology of HEV. Identification of the most useful animal model for human HEV infection studies is crucial to further investigations into this ubiquitous yet poorly understood virus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Infectious Disease Center, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center, 38 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Infectious Disease Center, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center, 38 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100191, China. lingwang@bjmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D016751:Hepatitis E / Q000821:virology*; D016752:Hepatitis E virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D011817:Rabbits; D013552:Swine
keywords: Animal models; Cross-species infection; HEV; Pathogenesis; Vaccine study