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Review
. 2025 Jun 11;13(6):1358.
doi: 10.3390/microorganisms13061358.

Animal Models of Pathogenic New World Arenaviruses

Alexander V Alvarado  1   2 , Robert W Cross  1   2 , Thomas W Geisbert  1   2 , Courtney Woolsey  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Animal Models of Pathogenic New World Arenaviruses

Alexander V Alvarado et al. Microorganisms. .

Abstract

Since the emergence of Junín virus in 1953, pathogenic New World arenaviruses have remained a public health concern. These viruses, which also include Machupo virus, Guanarito virus, Sabiá virus, and Chapare virus, cause acute viral hemorrhagic fever and neurological complications, resulting in significant morbidity and mortality. Given the dearth of licensed therapeutics or vaccines against these pathogens, animal models of infection that recapitulate human manifestations of disease remain critically important to the development of efficacious medical countermeasures. Rodents and non-human primates have been successfully used to model human New World arenaviral infections, with guinea pigs, rhesus macaques, and cynomolgus macaques being the most successful models of infection for most major pathogenic New World arenaviruses. Here, we provide a highly comprehensive review of publicly reported animal models of pathogenic New World arenavirus infections, with a discussion of advantages and disadvantages for each model.

Keywords: Chapare virus; Guanarito virus; Junín virus; Machupo virus; New World arenaviruses; Sabiá virus; animal models; arenaviruses; countermeasures; pathogenesis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Timeline of stages and associated clinical manifestations of JUNV infection in humans, measured in days post-infection.
Figure 2
Figure 2
JUNV rodent models evaluated on their immune response to infection, economic viability, accuracy in recapitulating human infection (neurological or hemorrhagic), and their suitability for vaccination, treatment, and pathogenesis studies.
Figure 3
Figure 3
JUNV NHP models evaluated on their immune response to infection, economic viability, accuracy in recapitulating human symptoms of infection with virus (neurological or hemorrhagic), and suitability for vaccination, treatment, and pathogenesis studies.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Timeline of stages and associated clinical manifestations of MACV infection in humans, measured in days post-infection.
Figure 5
Figure 5
MACV rodent animal models evaluated on their immune response to infection, economic viability, accuracy in recapitulating human symptoms of infection with virus (neurological or hemorrhagic in nature), and suitability for vaccination, treatment, and pathogenesis studies.
Figure 6
Figure 6
MACV NHP animal models evaluated on their immune response to infection, economic viability, accuracy in recapitulating human symptoms of infection with virus (neurological or hemorrhagic in nature), and suitability for vaccination, treatment, and pathogenesis studies.
Figure 7
Figure 7
GTOV animal models evaluated on their immune response to infection, economic viability, accuracy in recapitulating human symptoms of infection with virus (neurological or hemorrhagic in nature), and suitability for vaccination, treatment, and pathogenesis studies.
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