Objective: To examine sensitivity of the tree shrews and Macaca assamensis to human hepatitis B virus (HHBV) by serologic methods.
Methods: Totally 233 tree shrews and 28 Macaca assamensis were inoculated with human sera containing HBV. After inoculation, the sera were collected weekly from them and HBV markers were detected with HBV ditecting ELISA kits.
Results: Ninety percent of the tree shrews developed acute infection, among them, 44.4 % persisted for over one year, 33.3% of them developed chronic infection persisted for 2 years and one month; the persistence of HBV in Macaca assamensis was much shorter.
Conclusion: These data clearly indicated that tree shrew may be used as an animal model for study of chronic HBV infection, whereas, Macaca assamensis, showed only a transient sensitivity to HHBV.