As shown in Figure 8A, deletion of IRF4 in MHV68-Cre infected cells leads to a 60-fold decrease in establishment of latency in the spleen (1 in 4710 splenocytes contain latent viral genomes) compared to infection with a MHV68-WT virus (1 in 77 splenocytes harbor latent genomes), indicating a critical role for IRF4 for establishment of MHV68 latency in the spleen. Here, IRF4 is linked to infection.