An in vitro study found that SFTSV could replicate efficiently in HepG2 and induce significant secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines in HepG2 cells, such as IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α, as well as CC chemokine ligand-5, macrophage inflammatory protein-3α, and IP-10, promoting virus replication and further infection-induced apoptosis (Sun Q. et al., 2015). Here, IL6 is linked to infection.