Virus (AAV8-GFAP-hM3Dq-mCherry), which contained the hM3Dq (Gq) Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs (DREADDs) under the astrocyte GFAP promoter and the mCherry tag to localize viral infection, were stereotaxic injected into the primary somatosensory cortex. This evidence concerns the gene GFAP and viral infectious disease.