Table 6.

Characteristics of an ideal animal model of infectious disease^a

The challenge agent should: be an etiological agent of human disease demonstrate similar pathogenic determinants as in human disease result in disease following infection via a similar route as human exposure be reliably quantifiable and reproducibly cause disease

The host should: be susceptible to the agent at a realistic challenge dose manifest illness/disease which is similar to that observed in humans

The disease condition in the animal host should: be pathophysiologically comparable to the human condition with respect to time to disease onset time course of disease progression disease manifestations including signs/symptoms, severity, clinical and pathological features, laboratory parameters, organ involvement, morbidity, outcome

^a(FDA, 2009)