IFNA1 and COVID-19: However, priming of IFN-responses prior to an infection can be a double edged sword as cytokine storm following hyper-stimulation of the immune responses and the over production of pro-inflammatory cytokines have been shown to be associated with diseases like Ebola, Influenza, and COVID-19 (D’Elia et al., 2013; Infection-cusabio and Topics, 2020) and the mitochondria may act as a central hub in modulating these responses.