The antiviral activity of Ago-30, Ago-16 and Ago-68 (in case of viral infection) is in line with previous reports showing that mosquito/fly Ago-2 is involved in the antiviral RNAi response and phylogenetic analysis indicates that Ixodes Ago-30, Ago16 and Ago-68 are homologous to Ago-2 of insects (57,58). The gene discussed is AGO2; the disease is viral infectious disease.