Consistent with earlier findings in vitro, both RH‐CHIKV and RHEV‐CHIKV infections induced higher IFN‐α and IFN‐β levels compared to WT‐CHIKV and EV‐CHIKV (Fig 1F), despite achieving a lower infection level than WT‐CHIKV. This evidence concerns the gene IFNA1 and infection.