IFNA1 and viral infectious disease: Type I IFN are a family of anti-viral and immunomodulatory cytokines, which includes 13 IFN-α subtypes, IFN-β, and other poorly defined subtypes (IFN-ε, IFN-ω, IFN-κ, IFN-τ, IFN-δ and IFN-ζ), secreted by the host during most viral infections (10) and mainly produced by a subset of dendritic cells called plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC).