Of mice and Mike-An underappreciated Ebola virus disease model may have paved the road for future filovirology

In 1998, Mike Bray and colleagues published the first immunocompetent laboratory mouse model of Ebola virus disease. Often labeled by peer reviewers as inferior to large nonhuman primate efforts, this model initially laid the foundation for the recent establishment of panel-derived cross-bred and humanized mouse models and a golden hamster model. Nonhuman primate research has always been associated with ethical concerns and is sometimes deemed scientifically questionable due to the necessarily low animal numbers in individual studies. Independent of these concerns, the now-global severe shortage of commercially available large nonhuman pri-mates may pragmatically push research toward increased and improved rodent modeling that may altogether replace nonhuman primate studies in the short term as well as in an optimal future.

Automated summary

In 1998, the first immunocompetent laboratory mouse model of Ebola virus disease was developed by Mike Bray and colleagues. Despite being considered inferior to large nonhuman primate efforts initially, this model paved the way for the establishment of panel-derived cross-bred and humanized mouse models, as well as a golden hamster model. The global shortage of commercially available large nonhuman primates may lead to an increased focus on and improvement of rodent modeling, potentially replacing nonhuman primate studies in the short term and the future.