Weird Virological Science

Instapundit links to a Scientific American article reporting research which finds that the Epstein-Barr virus is likely the cause for Multiple Sclerosis. This is true although most humans have been exposed to the virus and very few of those get MS. 

Epidemiologist Alberto Ascherio, senior author of the new study, says, “The bottom line is almost: if you’re not infected with EBV, you don’t get MS. It’s rare to get such black-and-white results.”

Obviously, some as-yet-unknown and relatively rare factor combines with EBV to cause MS, perhaps a gene or lifestyle factors or both.