A Meta-Analysis of Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta), Cynomolgus Macaques (Macaca fascicularis), African green monkeys (Chlorocebus aethiops), and Ferrets (Mustela putorius furo) as Large Animal Models for COVID-19

Abstract

Animal models are at the forefront of biomedical research for studies of viral transmission, vaccines, and pathogenesis, yetthe need for an ideal large animal model for COVID-19 remains. We used a meta-analysis to evaluate published data relevantto this need. Our literature survey contained 22 studies with data relevant to the incidence of common COVID-19 symptomsin rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), cynomolgus macaques (Macaca fascicularis), African green monkeys (Chlorocebusaethiops), and ferrets (Mustela putorius furo). Rhesus macaques had leukocytosis on Day 1 after inoculation and pneumonia on Days 7 and 14 after inoculation, in frequencies that were similar enough to humans to reject the null hypothesis of a Fisher exact test. However, the differences in overall presentation of disease were too different from that of humans to successfully identify any of these 4 species as an ideal large animal of COVID-19. The greatest limitation to the current study is a lack of standardization in experimentation and reporting. To expand our understanding of the pathology of COVID-19 and evaluate vaccine immunogenicity, we must extend the unprecedented collaboration that has arisen in the study of COVID-19 to include standardization of animal-based research in an effort to find the optimal animal model.

Elevated soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor is associated with renal dysfunction in a Chlorocebus atheiopsCOVID‐19 model

“…The nonhuman primate and specifically the AGM species has been developed as an experimentally inducible mild-to-moderate animal model of COVID-19. 5 This species is useful in defining pathogenesisbased investigations [6][7][8][9][10] and associated re-infection susceptibility studies. 11 Accordingly, changes in renal function and related path- commonly occurs in patients with COVID-19 and is often associated with respiratory complications.…”