Animal Models in Virology

Abstract

The knowledge we have gained from the study of many diseases that affect humans comes from the study of disease processes in different animal species, and this has enhanced our understanding of the pathogenesis of the disease in humans. The American Medical Association says almost every advance in medical science in the twentieth century, from antibiotics and vaccines to antidepressant drugs and organ transplants, has been achieved either directly or indirectly through the use of animals as models of disease. In this chapter a brief overview of the uses of animal models for research on human viral diseases is presented.