The known propensity of EBV to lytically reactivate in antigen-stimulated plasma cells, and our finding that the Zp-V3 variant is particularly responsive to BCR stimulation, may explain why the Zp-V3 variant is highly over-represented in LCLs derived from infectious EBV in the breast milk of Kenyan mothers that had malaria during pregnancy. The gene discussed is BCR; the disease is malaria.