EBV can play a significant role in MS development in different ways, such as (1) Cross‐reactivity between EBV and CNS antigens, bystander CNS damage caused by EBV‐specific CD8+ T cells, (2) activation of innate immunity by EBV‐encoded small RNA molecules in the CNS, and (3) infection of autoreactive B cells which produce harmful autoantibodies and send costimulatory survival signals to autoreactive T cells in the CNS.8 This evidence concerns the gene CD8A and infection.