Recent Advances in Virus Infection Models of Tree Shrews

Viral infection is a global public health threat causing nearly half of the incidence rate of majorinfectious diseases in China.Establishment of an animal model to mimic the progression of viral infectiousdiseases in humans is of great significance to study the pathogenesis and prevention of viral infectious diseases.Tree shrews,as the close relatives of primates,have a higher similarity with humans in physiology,biochemistry,genomics than rodents.Tree shrew has unique characteristics that render it a potentially advantageous animalmodel,including small body size,short reproductive cycle and life span,easy handling,low maintenance cost,and it can infect a variety of viruses related to human diseases.In this paper,the biological advantages of treeshrew as a novel animal model of viral infectious diseases are summarized,including distribution andevolutionary status,biology and physiology.In addition,the latest application of tree shrew in the research ofmany viral infectious diseases such as in hepatitis B virus,hepatitis A virus and other virus were compared andsummarized.