Zebrafish as a model for SARS-CoV-2 infection, pathogenesis, transmission, and drug screening

Abstract

Causative agent, Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus - 2 (SARS-CoV-2) requires a host for its infection, replication, and spread. With the availability of several animal models and their limitations, there is a need for an alternative animal model with a high degree of conserved synteny at a laboratory scale. Zebrafish resemble humans in terms of conserved genetic homology aiding to understand the viral pathology and screening a variety of drug molecules. For e.g., the SARS-CoV-2 transmission was well established via air, infected people, and other surfaces. However, the viral titers in domestic sewage of infected people's excrements transmission through the water bodies were not well studied with a suitable model system. Thus, in the present study, we explore zebrafish as a potential host for SARS-CoV-2 like viruses entry, pathophysiology, transmission, and preclinical assessment of drugs involved in immune response and viral load reduction against SARS-CoV like viruses.