It was reported that SFTSV-infected peripheral monocytes of patients with fatal SFTS underwent severe apoptosis even at the early stage of the infection (Song et al., 2018), which might be associated with the marked inhibition of the gene expression of IL-6 and CD40L in the monocytes (Song et al., 2017), which had been reported to possess anti-apoptotic functions against various stress inducers, including viral infection (Giri et al., 2009). This evidence concerns the gene IL6 and infection.