Furthermore, upon direct inoculation of the neuronal cell bodies with ARPE-19-associated eGFP-ORF23 VZV or the eGFP-ORF23 VZV lysate for 72 h, IFNα-2 mRNA was detected in only one out of four cultures that were inoculated with cell-associated VZV, and again, this was with a high Ct value (Ct ≥ 35), and it was not detected upon the infection with the VZV lysate (data not shown). Here, IFNA2 is linked to infection.