Airway inflammation in response to HTLV-1 antigens, such as the immuno-dominant regulatory protein, Tax [30], may therefore provide the pathological basis for clinical associations with asthma and LRTI other than pneumonia in our Indigenous cohort and for the increased incidence of self-reported asthma among HTLV-1 carriers in the USA [20]. Here, CNTN2 is linked to pneumonia.