IFIT2 and viral infectious disease: IFN‐I including IFN‐α and IFN‐β further trigger the phosphorylation of transcription factors STAT1 and STAT2 via the JAK‐STAT pathway to induce multiple IFN‐stimulated genes (ISGs) such as MX1, OAS2, ISG15, and IFIT2, which synergistically inhibit viral infection by targeting almost all the steps of viral life cycles (Sadler & Williams, 2008; Schneider et al, 2014).