The recruitment of effector CD8+ T cells into mouse flank skin via a viral infection (e.g. Vaccinia virus) or through an inflammatory stimulus (e.g. ‘DNFB-pull’) results in comparable numbers of long-lived CD103+ epidermal TRM and is independent of the presence or absence of cognate antigen in the skin (Mackay et al., 2012; Hirai et al., 2019; Davies et al., 2017). This evidence concerns the gene ITGAE and viral infectious disease.