Transcriptome analysis of human astrocytes has outlined the crucial role of the IFN response in restricting ZIKV infection (Chen et al. 2018), and IFN functions are indispensable in controlling acute ZIKV infection in mice, as evidenced by the lethality of infection when IFN signaling is impaired (Morrison and Diamond. 2017). This evidence concerns the gene IFNA1 and Zika virus infectious disease.