On day 1 post-infection, the Caspase-3 cleavage (cl-Caspase-3) (activated apoptosis), and EV71 dsRNA were obviously detected in the cerebral cortex tissues of EV71-infected mice, but not in mock-infected, EV71-heated-infected, or EV71-UV-infected mice (Fig 1C and 1D). This evidence concerns the gene CASP3 and infection.