IFNA1 and infection: For Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS)-CoV, the timing of type I IFN production appears to dictate the outcome of infection in mouse models, and its administration within 1 day after infection was protective against lethal infection, while a delay in IFN production caused an inability to control viral replication, leading to cellular damage of airway epithelia and the lung parenchyma and an eventual lethal inflammatory cytokine storm [31].