The fact that Poly(I:C) induced the major pathophysiologic elements of OM in the rat ME is perhaps not surprising, since dsRNA interaction with TLR3 and other nucleic acid receptors including MDA5 and RIG-1 induces not only interferons, but also many of the same inflammatory mediators produced by bacterial infection (Jensen and Thomsen, 2012). Here, TLR3 is linked to bacterial infectious disease.