Abstract:Viral hepatitis is a major liver disease caused by virus infection. Viral hepatitis is popular in China, mainly caused by hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses. Experimental animal model is a necessary platform for the research on mechanism of viral infection and pathogenicity, for treatment and vaccine development. Up to date, a great progress in the development of viral hepatitis animal models has been achieved in spite of the most of findings are limited to hepatitis B and C. Here, we summarize the recent findings of viral hepatitis animal models, focusing on the tree shrew animal model and its modeling strategy.