Of the 23 cytokines and chemokines that were analyzed by Luminex assay (see Additional file 2: Table S1), significantly higher concentrations were observed for the proinflammatory factors IFN-γ, IL-2, MIP-1α/CCL3, MIP-1β/CCL4, IL-9, IL-13 and the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 for NP vaccinated animals on day 6 after infection compared to control animals (Fig. 5). Here, IFNG is linked to infection.