To firmly establish that the lung AECIIs are capable of producing IFN-β and proinflammatory chemokines upon VACV∆C7L infection and to test whether the induction is dependent on the MDA5 and STING-mediated cytosolic dsRNA and DNA-sensing pathways, we established primary mouse lung AECIIs culture in vitro. The gene discussed is IFNB1; the disease is infection.