IFNB1 and infection: While type I IFN was robustly produced early during acute infection after both HSV-1 and HSV-2 infection (Figure 3—figure supplement 3), IFNβ levels were higher in the vaginal lumen after HSV-2 infection compared to HSV-1 at time points corresponding to the onset of genital inflammation (Figure 3E) despite similar viral burden between the two infection models (Figure 2—figure supplement 1A).