Recent studies also showed that highly virulent ASFV infection led to decreased T cell frequency, and no proliferation or T-bet-dependent activation of CD8 T cells were observed in domestic pigs [26], while the moderately virulent ASFV strain induced the proliferation of CD8α+ T cells, along with a loss of perforin expression at 5 days post-infection (dpi) [27]. This evidence concerns the gene CD8A and infection.